University of Ottawa graduate student Joseph Hickey has been found not guilty of trespassing charges after occupying uOttawa President Allan Rock’s office. A trespass notice was issued last December after Hickey allegedly wrote graffiti on a school billboard wall that read “these walls belong to students.” He still faces mischief charges.
Hickey, who is also a physics teaching assistant at uOttawa, said he was in Rock’s office on December 11 to make an appointment to speak with the president about revoking the trespass notice when police arrested him.
“I needed to be on campus everyday and I had a right to be there,” said Hickey. “[The university] has a mandate to serve in the best interest of the community. The trespass notice was removing me from my community and intellectual pursuits.”
The university later revoked the trespass notice after warning Hickey that he will be given a longer period notice if he repeats the offence.
President Rock and Vice President Diane Davidson were subpoenaed to appear in court on June 2 as witnesses. However, the prosecutor phoned Hickey’s lawyer and said she was not going to present evidence at trial. The case was then dismissed.
“The trespass matter was resolved before the trial date, making the appearance of those who had received subpoenas unnecessary,” said University of Ottawa spokesperson Vincent Lamontagne in an email.
Hickey said the prosecutor had first tried to negotiate a guilty plea with his lawyer. “I am a vocally outspoken student and the university is trying to remove critical students from campus,” he said.
Sean Kelly, the internal commissioner of the graduate students association said trespassing notices should only be used in cases where the person represents a danger to themselves or to others. “In Mr. Hickey’s case, this danger did not exist.” Kelly added that the university officials have refused posting some political messages while the school uses space for internal and external advertising.
Hickey did not confirm whether or not he wrote on the walls but said he doesn’t believe “writing a political message on a campus wall that was intended for messaging is damage to property.” He said he will plead not guilty to mischief on his February 2011 court date.
“When I first saw the graffiti on the walls outside the library, I secretly cheered to myself. Our campus doesn’t have enough in it which exhibits the student culture,” said fourth year linguistics student Nandini Thaker. “But I wonder if, apart from holding rallies, there’s a powerful and effective way for us to express ourselves without actually getting into trouble.”
Although student activists can be “confrontational,” Thaker said President Rock’s admin is “adamantly tight-lipped when it comes to issues of alleged infringements of student rights.”
President Rock served as Canada’s ambassador to the UN and ran the industry, justice and health ministries in Jean Chrétien’s Cabinet.
Another student, Marc Kelly, was also arrested for trespassing in February. Student Federation of University of Ottawa President Seamus Wolfe, who demanded a warrant from the police, was also arrested moments later for “disturbing the peace” after he swore at an officer. Hickey witnessed and videotaped the entire incident which can be viewed on YouTube.
