A CFB Borden member of the Reserve Cadet Instructor Cadre faces the maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted of a mutiny charge, says a former military legal officer now working in private practice in Kingston.
“Mutiny is rarely charged,” said Rory Fowler, a retired Canadian Forces legal officer who is pursuing a PhD in law relating to the Crown-soldier relationship.
Officer Cadet Ladislas Kenderesi was charged on May 12 of endeavouring to persuade another person to join in a mutiny and behaving in a scandalous manner unbecoming of an officer, both under the National Defence Act.
The charges are linked to an anti-pandemic lockdown rally in Toronto on Dec. 5 where he was videotaped wearing a uniform and encouraging the Canadian Forces to not distribute the vaccine.
Mutiny is a charge that doesn’t necessarily need to apply to an armed conflict, Fowler told MidlandToday. And while most associate mutiny with violence, that is a separate and more serious charge.
Fowler said while he was a little surprised the charge was laid, he suspects military officials felt compelled to proceed with charges given the very public way in which the reservist’s message was delivered and that he was in uniform at the time.
Fowler explained regular members of the Canadian Forces are subject to the National Defence Act 24/7 while on or off duty, in or out of uniform.
“None of those apply to this individual” as a reservist, he said, “but if you appeared in uniform you’re subject to the Code of Service Discipline.”
And while the charge carries a possible life sentence, there is a wide range of penalties available if there is a conviction. That includes imprisonment for two years or more.
Dismissal with disgrace, Fowler says, is the next serious sentence on the scale of punishment that he equates as being more serious than the sentence of less than two years under the Criminal Code of Canada.
“Dismissal with disgrace is not just a compulsory release; it’s actually a punishment,” he said.
The sentencing range goes all the way down to fines.
And while the prosecution has the video as evidence, Fowler says there is a defence available.
“If I were his defence counsel and I was looking to run a defence, the one I’d probably be inclined toward is that he wasn’t really trying to persuade any person to join a mutiny,” although he was trying to convince military members not to distribute the vaccine, he said.
“The argument could be: Here’s a guy that nobody can possibly take seriously.”
His claims were questionable, he’s older but holds the lowest possible rank of officer, so there is no realistic capacity to persuade others to follow, Fowler posited. “Not a great defence, but one I would contemplate,” he added.
An officer cadet is an officer without a commission. Those involved in the Reserve Cadet Instructor Cadre oversee cadets, who are under 19 years of age.
CFB Borden is located about 20 minutes west of Barrie.
Fowler said a difference between the criminal courts process and one under the military justice system is that the military pays for a defence lawyer.
A GoFundMe campaign was launched May 14 to raise $50,000 for Kenderesi’s legal defence. So far, $555 has been raised.
