After five nights in jail, the daughter of Quebec Solidaire MNA Amir Khadir has been released with strict bail conditions.
Yalda Machouf-Khadir, 19, arrested last Thursday will have to respect a 10:00 p.m. curfew and stay away from government buildings, including universities. Free on $2,000 bail and a $10,000 bond posted, Machouf-Khadir was one of five people arrested last week when she pulled out of bed during a series of dawn raids.
In all, Machouf-Khadir and her five co-accused faces 11 charges in connection with different events--including break and enter, conspiracy, mischief, assaulting a police officer and assaulting a news photographer.
She has also been charged previously for blocking the Jacques Cartier Bridge and for the occupation of a Montreal college last February -- and the Crown cited those repeat allegations while opposing bail for her.
Prosecutors had pleaded with the judge to keep Machouf-Khadir behind bars, claiming that she had a history of ignoring bail conditions and simply gets rearrested for protest-related activities upon each release.
The young woman promised to respect a curfew and any other bail conditions. The case will continue in mid-July.
Controversial poster shown during hearing
During Machouf-Khadir's bail hearing on Sunday, an investigator working for the Montreal police described the force's surprise when they found a poster depicting the co-leader of Quebec Solidaire standing over the corpse of Premier Jean Charest.
During a search of the Montreal politician's home last Thursday, police found the poster under a glass tabletop in the family's kitchen.
"It's only an album cover," protested Nima Machouf, the girl's mother, when asked about the controversial poster on Tuesday.
Based on the scene of Liberty Leading the People, a famous painting by Eugene Delacroix of a bare-breasted woman leading soldiers during the French Revolution, the print in Khadir's home called on scenes from the four months of student demonstrations in Quebec.
"As far as I know Jean Charest is very much alive and I hope he stays that way for a long time," the MNA told The Canadian Press. "All I want is for Charest to lose the election."
Khadir has hinted that he might sue Quebecor, the parent company of Le Journal de Montreal, where the story of the poster found in his house was first printed.
The poster was created by the group Mise en Demeure for their new album, it can be purchased from the band for $7.
--with files from The Canadian Press
