Judge finds Ahenakew not guilty in 2nd hate trial

David Ahenakew, a formersenator with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations,has been found not guilty of wilfully promoting hatred against Jewish people.

Provincial court Judge Wilfrid Tucker handed down his decision in Saskatoon Monday in Ahenakew's second trial on the charge. The judge saidthe Crown did not prove that Ahenakew hadthe intent necessary for a conviction.

He called Ahenakew's comments"revolting, disgusting and untrue," however.

A gasp could be heard in the courtroom as the judge readoutthe conclusion to his decision. One person could be heard clapping.

"Thank God it's over, and I mean that," Ahenakew told reporters as he left the courthouse. "It's been awful."

Ahenakew was charged after making remarks about Jews during a public speech and subsequent interview with a newspaper reporter in December, 2002.

After his first trial, Ahenakew was convicted of wilfully promoting hatred and fined, but in 2006 the Court of Queen's Bench set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial.

Last fall, Ahenakew, now 75, was tried again.

The Crown'scase was thatAhenakew violated Canada's hate legislation during a speech to an FSIN conferenceabout health consent forms and in an interview with Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter James Parker that immediately followed, in whichAhenakew called Jews a "disease" that started the Second World War.

During his testimony, Ahenakew claimed that Parker got him into an argumentative interview.

Tucker said in his ruling Monday that the reporter did nothing wrong. However, the factthat Ahenakew had said "I'm not going to argue with you about Jews" and began towalk away from the interviewwas not consistent with someone seeking to promote hatred, he said.

The comments about Jewish peopleduring the speech appeared to bein the context of someone urging First Nations people to be more confrontational on the issue of health consent forms, Tucker said.

Ahenakew made "derogatory and insulting" statements about "immigrants" that he took to mean anyone who was not aboriginal, with special attention on Jewish people, Tucker said.

However, the remarksappeared to be spontaneous and not an attempt to spread hatred of Jews, Tucker said.

The storythat ran in the paperthe day after the conferenceshocked the country. Ahenakewhad his Order of Canada taken away from him andwas removed as an FSINsenator.

Ahenakew's lawyer, Doug Christie, said last week that hewas expecting a guilty verdict on Monday andthere would likely be an appeal if that were the case.

After the decision was handed down, Christie said he hoped the Jewish community and the attorney general were satisfied andthe decision would mark the end of the case.

"How many times does a person have to apologize for making a mistake?" he said.