MONTREAL — Quebec taxpayers paid $11.4 million over two years to defend 118 accused motorcycle gangsters, QMI Agency has learned.
The suspected gangsters claimed they didn't have enough money to pay for lawyers, and therefore the province assumed the legal costs.
Quebec's legal aid agency, the Commission des services juridiques (CSJ), compiled the list of legal aid costs that the province incurred between September 2010 and January 2013 and QMI Agency obtained a copy.
CSJ president Denis Roy said 80% of the $11.4 million was paid to lawyers defending Hells Angels members who were among the 156 arrested in 2009 during police operation SharQc.
"It's the price to pay for a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the constitutional right of an accused to be represented by a lawyer," Roy said.
