Freedom convoy leader Tamara Lich arrested in Alberta, accused of breaching bail conditions

Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich has been re-arrested in Medicine Hat, Alta., for breaching her bail conditions, her lawyers have confirmed.

Lich was taken into custody Monday evening, according to Keith Wilson, who represents Lich on her non-criminal cases including a lawsuit.

Wilson, who spoke with Lich after her arrest, says she expects to be transported back to Ottawa in the next week.

Eric Granger, who is one of Lich's criminal defence lawyers also confirmed Lich's arrest.

Granger says he has no reason to believe his client has done anything wrong and is "looking to learn more at this stage."

"Based on everything we knew, she's been diligently complying with all of her bail conditions as was noted by the judge at her recent bail review

Lich faces charges of mischief, counselling mischief, obstructing police, counselling to obstruct police, counselling intimidation and intimidation by blocking and obstructing one or more highways for her role as one of the organizers of the protest that shut down much of downtown Ottawa earlier this year.

RCMP confirmed Lich was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for breaching her release order but did not have further information as the arrest falls within the jurisdiction of the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS).

The MHPS says it will not release information until Tuesday morning. 

Lich was released on bail in March on conditions which include staying off social media. She cannot organize any kind of protest and she is also not permitted to contact several of the other convoy leaders.

It's not yet clear which bail conditions she is accused of breaching. 

Lich was subject to a bail hearing last month where prosecutors unsuccessfully sought to have her taken back into custody for allegedly violating her bail condition that she not support anything related to the Freedom Convoy. The anti-COVID-19 restriction blockades gridlocked Ottawa for three weeks last winter as protesters parked trucks that blocked neighbourhood access and main arteries around Parliament Hill.

Weeks after she was granted release in March, Lich was notified she'd been selected as a recipient of a freedom award, handed out by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), a legal organization and registered charity based in Calgary

The Ottawa judge ruled he would not revoke Lich's bail and instead, varied her conditions to allow travel to Ontario with a restriction that she be banned from entering the capital's downtown core.