A Superior Court judge has certified eight class action lawsuits levelled against the City of Montreal by a wide variety of protesters.
The lawsuits concern eight different instances of kettling by Montreal police between 2012 and 2014.
The suit says the demonstrations were peaceful, yet police rounded up protesters and allegedly detained them in an abusive fashion, despite there being no criminal activity.
Protesters allege they were then detained abusively; hands tie-wrapped, unable to move, sometimes in the cold, and prevented from using the bathroom.
“It's alleged they were arrested for a duration of between an hour to six hours. In one of the cases actually the protesters didn't even get tickets after, they were just held and then let go,” said attorney Sibel Ataogul.
An estimated 1,600 people are included in the eight class action lawsuits.
Together, the suits are asking the city for $21 million in damages.
