A former Saskatchewan Indian leader who made controversial remarks about Jews to a reporter in 2002 will be retried for wilfully promoting hatred, the provincial government announced Friday.
David Ahenakew, a former Assembly of First Nations leader, was charged in 2003 and tried and convicted of the crime in 2005 and fined $1,000, but the conviction was later overturned on appeal.
On Jan. 14, Saskatchewan's highest court agreed with Ahenakew, 74, that a guilty decision wasn't warranted and ordered a new trial.
A further appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada was one option open to the Crown. So was dropping the matter altogether.
Instead, a spokesman for the Saskatchewan Justice Ministry said Friday there would be a new trial.
"Mr. Ahenakew was originally prosecuted because we believed that there was a reasonable likelihood of success and that it was in the public interest to do so," public prosecutions executive director Daryl Rayner said in a news release.
"After careful consideration, we still believe this case meets that standard so we have decided to proceed with a new trial as ordered by the Court of Appeal."
The charge arose out of remarks made by Ahenakew in an address to a conference in Saskatoon in December 2002, as well as comments he made to to newspaper reporter afterward.
In the interview, he said Nazi leader Adolf Hitler came in to prevent Jews from taking over Europe. He also referred to Jews as a "disease." The comments made headlines across the country and resulted in a torrent of criticism.
Ahenakew was stripped of his membership in the Order of Canada following his conviction in July 2005.
Ahenakew's lawyer, Doug Christie, said Friday that society will gain nothing if his client is put on trial again.
"He's a man of advanced years," Christie said.
No date has been announced for a new trial.
