The Crown on Monday dropped criminal charges against pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during a sit-in at a downtown Montreal bank in 2024, ending a legal battle that protesters say raises broader questions about the right to demonstrate.
The Crown withdrew the remaining criminal mischief charges against 14 protesters after they agreed to plead guilty to violating a municipal noise bylaw and pay $300 fines.
The defendants were among 44 people arrested in April 2024 after staging a sit-in at a Scotiabank branch, demanding that the bank divest from Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems amid the war in Gaza.
“We want to make sure people can continue to fight things like this,” protester Eli Tareq said at a news conference Monday at Montreal municipal court. “If a citizen gets treated this way, what will happen when people do anything that’s deemed more violent?”
Defence lawyer Barbara Bedont said most of the other protesters had already resolved their cases through community service.
She said the remaining defendants had a strong constitutional case and warned that criminalizing peaceful sit-ins threatens freedom of expression and the right to protest.
The case comes to an end months after Scotiabank’s investment management subsidiary disclosed it had sold its remaining shares in Elbit Systems, which protesters celebrated as a victory for their campaign.
“We set out to pressure a Canadian bank to stop profiting from genocide, and in that case we won,” protester Harar Hall said at the press conference.
But protesters said the resolution of their criminal cases fell short of the accountability they had sought from police and the justice system.
Protester Mara Farrokh said the defendants had challenged their arrests under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, arguing that police had violated their constitutional rights.
But she said they eventually agreed to the fines in order to put an end to the proceedings. She alleged that the judge overseeing their case was treating them unfairly.
“We knew that getting justice out of this court system wouldn’t be possible,” she said in an interview Monday.
From right, Harar V.A. Hall, Alessandra and Maral - activists included among 44 individuals charged for conducting a pro-Palestine sit-in at a Scotiabank, speak to media ahead of a court appearance, in Montreal, on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Footage of the sit-in was shown at the Montreal municipal court in April.
Farrokh alleged the security camera footage included a sequence showing officers in riot gear stepping on a protester, as demonstrators were surrounded.
Farrokh said the judge watched the footage but refused to acknowledge what the protester described as evidence of excessive police force.
The allegations have not been independently verified, and the Canadian Press has not viewed the footage described by Farrokh.
In an email, Montreal police said they acknowledged the municipal court’s decision, adding that anyone who believes they were mistreated during a police intervention can file a complaint with the force or an independent body.
The protesters say they have filed a complaint with Quebec’s judicial council against the judge, ''to have a committee review her behaviour throughout the case,'' said Farrokh, adding the judge treated them in a way she described as ''unacceptable'' and showing ''bias'' against the protesters.
During hearings in April, a manager at the Scotiabank branch testified that the protesters had not threatened anyone or damaged property. He also said he had locked the doors and called police without first asking the demonstrators to leave.
At the time, protester Felix Bradley questioned why the demonstrators were still facing criminal charges when the bank had already divested from Elbit Systems.
“We really want to draw attention to this so that more Canadians can be informed and then that more Canadians can exercise their right to protest,” Bradley said in April.
The sit-in was part of a broader wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations following the outbreak of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
Pro-Palestinian activists accused Scotiabank of profiting from Israel’s military operations through its investment in Elbit Systems, which supplies weapons and military technology to the Israeli military.
Regulatory filings disclosed in February showed that Scotiabank’s subsidiary, 1832 Asset Management, had sold its remaining shares in Elbit Systems.
Hall previously said the protesters believed they had been treated more harshly because of their political views.
“We would not have faced this treatment from the police, from the bank, from institutions, if we were not pro-Palestinian protesters,” Hall said in April.
The Crown declined to comment at the end of the hearings.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2026.
-- with files from Erika Morris in Montreal
Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
