Police say 31 people arrested for threats against Quebec politicians

Quebec provincial police say 31 people have been arrested for allegedly threatening candidates during the provincial election campaign.

In all, there were 66 criminal charges, including 47 crimes against the person and 19 crimes against property, Noovo Info reported Friday.

Throughout the 36-day campaign, which ended Monday, the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) received a total of 217 complaints, though many of them were "unfounded" and did not involve criminality in the eyes of police.

At the height of the threats during the campaign, the incumbent premier, François Legault, announced the creation of a special hotline available to all candidates to report a threat to the SQ.

In the same week that the hotline was set up, two Liberal candidates reported they were on the receiving end of targeted attacks.

Saint-Laurent candidate Marwah Rizqy received death threats on the phone during the campaign, as well as in months preceding the election being called, she said.

Her fellow Liberal candidate, Encrico Ciccone, has his office broken into in the Marquette riding.

Other candidates reported threats, including Coalition Avenir Québec candidate Sylvain Lévesque, who noticed one of his election posters online photoshopped with what looked like dripping blood.

Quebec Conservative Party leader Éric Duhaime also some of his candidates were threatened while putting up their election campaign signs in their ridings early on in the campaign.