2023-08-16 04:00:00
Star pilot Normand Dubé, who is serving a long prison sentence for sabotaging Hydro-Québec’s high-voltage lines, claims to be detained “illegally” and demands his immediate release.
• Read also: Hydro-Québec drops $28.6M lawsuit once morest star pilot Normand Dubé
The 61-year-old criminal demands his release “immediately” on the grounds that he was the victim of a “serious violation” of his constitutional rights, he writes in a 100-page request obtained by our Office of investigation.
“As the plaintiff is still incarcerated following more than two years and five months and it seems that arbitrariness and abuse are keeping him that way, he is asking for interventions to put an end to this situation,” says Normand Dubé. , who represents himself without a lawyer in this case.
The star pilot – so nicknamed because he has taken many artistic personalities on trips during his career – is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence. He was found guilty of willfully damaging power transmission facilities, in addition to setting fire to the residences of three public servants.
Normand Dubé was convicted in 2019 of arson and harassment of officials with whom he was in conflict. This photo of a burnt-out vehicle was entered into evidence at his trial. Photo provided by the court
Detained in the Cowansville penitentiary, the man from the Laurentians believes that his detention is “illegal” since it goes once morest several articles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Normand Dubé protests once morest the fact of having lost his freedom “unfairly” and insists on being imprisoned “ once morest his will”.
He once more challenges the legality of the evidence gathered once morest him, denounces the incompetence of his lawyers at the time and fires red balls at the work of the Crown prosecutor in the file, evoking his “abusive behavior”, his “schemes” and his “spirit of revenge”.
The pilot also mentions his health problems.
“The plaintiff maintains that it is urgent that he be heard on his appeal, he has serious health problems since he was diagnosed with serious kidney failure”, means the request.
A “miscarriage of justice”
Claiming to be the victim of a miscarriage of justice, Normand Dubé continues to proclaim his innocence and to deny his responsibility or his involvement in the crimes for which he was found guilty.
Photo d’archives
The star pilot, however, clarifies that he does not wish, at this stage, to challenge the guilty verdicts or the sentences imposed. His request is only intended to allow him to be “released from this illegal deprivation of liberty without having to face a restricted, long, costly process”, pleads the one who also calls for a stay of proceedings.
The case is to be heard on Wednesday at the Granby courthouse.
Documentary
Remember that our Bureau of Investigation explored the underside of the Dubé affair in the documentary The pilot of the stars and in the podcast Par pure vengeance.
The Normand Dubé saga
December 2014: Furious once morest Hydro-Québec for a story of servitude on his land, Normand Dubé attacks the high voltage lines of the state company with his plane, causing a major breakdown and depriving some 200,000 subscribers of electricity, in full winter. June 2015: Dubé is arrested and charged in connection with the state corporation’s power line misdeeds. He also faces other charges for having harassed and set fire to the residences of three public servants with whom he had had trouble, crimes committed between 2011 and 2014. November 2015: Hydro-Québec prosecutes Normand Dubé for 28.6 M$, following the attacks once morest its network. Detained since his arrest, the pilot regains his freedom under several conditions, pending his trial. September 2018: Following a first trial, Normand Dubé was found guilty of misdeeds on Hydro-Québec’s high-voltage lines, crimes for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison. Dubé appealed the case and quickly regained his parole. May 2019: The star pilot is found guilty in the civil servants arson case. The court orders the immediate imprisonment of Dubé, who will be officially condemned a few months later to nine years of detention. October 2019: Dubé having appealed this new guilty verdict, he regains his parole, while the Court of Appeal rules on his case. The Crown, for its part, asks the Court of Appeal that the sentences be served consecutively. December 2020: The court revokes the provisional release of Normand Dubé for breach of condition. The pilot takes to their heels. He becomes one of the most wanted criminals in Quebec. February 2021: Normand Dubé surrenders to the police following a month and a half on the run. During this run, the Court of Appeal rejected all of the criminal’s appeals. The pilot receives a new sentence of 10 months in prison for non-compliance with his conditions. July 2021: The Court of Appeal agrees with the Crown’s arguments and orders that the 7-year and 9-year sentences imposed on Normand Dubé be served consecutively and not concurrently. The pilot’s sentence therefore climbs to 16 years in prison. May 2023: Hydro-Québec drops its $28.6 million lawsuit initiated in 2015 once morest Normand Dubé, following a confidential settlement between the parties. Dubé had also himself filed a countersuit once morest Hydro, claiming $ 1.87 million, in 2020.
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