Police have charged a Quebec man with advocating genocide over threats against Muslims that were allegedly posted online, the RCMP announced on Monday.
The hate crime charges against André Audet, a Boucherville, Que., resident, mark the first time the rarely used genocide law has been applied in the province, police said.
Audet was to appear in court Monday to face charges of advocating genocide, public incitement of hatred, willful promotion of hatred and intimidation of a justice system participant or journalist.
Using a variety of pseudonyms, Audet allegedly posted threats on “a number of social media networks,” the RCMP said in a news release.
“The investigators identified approximately one hundred hate posts, threats and/or posts inciting violence in the targeted accounts. For example, the accused called for the death of Justin Trudeau and encouraged the eradication of Muslims,” the release said.
The 62-year-old appeared in court last December as part of the same investigation. The new charges followed an analysis of evidence that was conducted following his arrest, the RCMP said.
The investigation was conducted by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team. Police warned that “violent statements will not be tolerated” and could lead to “significant sentences.”
Canada’s law against advocating or promoting genocide is seldom used. In 2010, an Ontario resident, Salman Hossain, 35, was charged with advocating genocide over his online posts about Jews.
The former Mississauga resident fled Canada before the Ontario Provincial Police laid the charges and now lives in an apartment in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. He is wanted by Interpol.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca