Not guilty plea made in human trafficking case

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on March 21, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A man charged with several others in relation to a human trafficking case, and who was strongly advised in February to hire a lawyer, is still without legal counsel.

Meriton Krasniqi did not have a lawyer when he appeared in Lethbridge provincial court on Monday. However, he was helped by duty counsel lawyer Jeremy DeBow, who entered pleas and noted duty counsel will likely assist Krasniqi for the time being.

“The election is provincial court judge alone, and I enter pleas of not guilty on behalf of Mr. Krasniqi,” DeBow said, adding Krasniqi does not qualify for Legal Aid assistance but will continue to seek guidance from counsel when he can.

Krasniqi is charged with sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, sexual assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault/party to offence with another person, aggravated sexual, trafficking in persons under the age of 18, sexual assault and sexual assault of a person under the age of 16.

The charges stem from a police investigation into human trafficking in which 10 individuals, including two youth, were arrested in August 2021. Police said several men groomed a 15-year-old girl and took her to various locations where sex offences took place. The individuals also engaged in sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl, and additional victims came forward later in connection with the investigation.

Krasniqi had been attempting to retain new counsel after he parted ways with his lawyer last June. However, he told a judge last month he wouldn’t know if he would hire a lawyer or represent himself until after he had read through 3,000 pages of disclosure, which he had requested several months earlier, but only received recently.

“So, I’m going through it and I actually want to see if I actually should get a lawyer, but most likely I probably will,” Krasniqi said during the hearing on Feb. 27.

At that time Judge John Maher pointed out the serious nature of the charges and advised Krasniqi to get a lawyer.

“Whatever it may cost, you need a lawyer,” Maher told him. “These charges are extremely serious, and if you are not successful at trial, you’re going to spend a long time in jail.”

Because Krasniqi may be self-represented during his trial, Crown Prosecutor James Rouleau made an application Monday under Section 486 of the Criminal Code to have a lawyer appointed to question the female complainant in the case. The Code allows a judge to order that the accused not be allowed to personally cross-examine a witness, and to appoint counsel to cross-examine a witness who is under the age of 18.

Rouleau also suggested that the trial will likely take longer to run – at least three days – if the accused does not have a lawyer. That requires holding a pre-trial conference with a judge to discuss issues relating to the Crown and defence cases.

The matter has been adjourned until April 3 to allow time to schedule the pre-trial conference and possibly set trial dates.

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