Blogger pleads not guilty to disturbance charge

Fredericton blogger Charles LeBlanc pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge of causing a disturbance and will stand trial in provincial court on Oct. 28.

LeBlanc was arrested for causing a disturbance outside of the city’s police headquarters on Wednesday and had been in provincial jail in Saint John since that time.

LeBlanc was released from custody Friday after agreeing to a condition that he not use a bullhorn or "voice-amplification device" in the downtown area of the city.

LeBlanc said he agreed to the condition because he was deprived of an asthma inhaler and other medication while in jail.

"Freedom of speech, I've always been a strong advocate, but when you're told if you don't sign these papers, you could be remanded in custody for another month, moi, without medication, I would have died," said LeBlanc Friday outside of court.

LeBlanc, who writes a blog on politics and social justice issues, had received warnings from the police that people were complaining about his use of a bullhorn outside the police headquarters.

The blogger has been protesting a ticket he received for riding his bike on the sidewalk in Fredericton.

Fredericton Police Const. Rick Mooney confirmed the blogger was arrested because of the complaints from people in a nearby office building.

"We had a number of complaints in relation to this in the area here, so we conducted an investigation and acted on that information," Mooney said.

LeBlanc, however, is convinced that ticket was related to his long-running feud with officials at the New Brunswick legislature and the city police.

One municipal councillor is questioning the arrest of the well-known blogger.

Tim Scammell, a village councillor in New Maryland and friend of LeBlanc’s, said he's wondering why the blogger was arrested for loudly complaining about the Fredericton police force.

"I think he should be allowed to say what he wants to say, wherever he is," Scammell said.

"As much as we may or may not agree with it, or find the method annoying, that's his rights."

LeBlanc has had a controversial past. He was banned from the legislature in 2006.

And LeBlanc made international headlines in November 2006 when he was acquitted on an obstruction charge.

He had been arrested when he was blogging coverage of a demonstration at the Atlantica business conference in Saint John in June 2006.