January 21, 2004 - Juliet O'Neill - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

RCMP raids home of journalist Juliet O’Neill, prompting widespread condemnation. Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O’Neill was writing about the imprisonment and torture of Canadian Maher Arar, who spent a year in a Syrian prison after being detained in the United States and sent to Syria due to information given to them by Canadian officials. The issue became more than just an embarrassment for the Canadian government as questions arose about the information Canadian officials had given the U.S. In the end, Arar was exonerated with an apology and an $11.5 million settlement from the Canadian government. On January 21, 2004, 10 RCMP officers raided O’Neill’s home, taking copies of her computer files along with notebooks, address books and other documents. They were investigating a possible breach of the Security of Information Act and implicating O’Neill in criminal activity. Worldwide condemnation by organizations devoted to freedom of the press followed immediately. PEN Canada for Freedom of Expression expressed outrage at the Canadian police actions. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Vienna-based International Press Institute also had harsh words for Canada’s Prime Minister Paul Martin and the RCMP. The Ottawa Citizen went to court, demanding their documents and those of O’Neill returned. In October of 2006 an Ontario judge granted most of their demands and had harsh words for the RCMP. Judge Ratushny wrote the RCMP’s allegations of criminality by O’Neill was, “abusive conduct… that amounts to an intimidation of the press and an infringement of the constitutional right of freedom of the press.” The judge further ruled that certain actions of the RCMP “offend the public's sense of decency and fairness and does undermine the integrity of the judicial process.”

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