Pubdate: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) Copyright: 2001 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc. Contact: http://www.montrealgazette.com/ Forum: http://forums.canada.com/~montreal Author: Alexander Panetta QUEBEC BIKERS PLEAD NOT GUILTY TO 162 CHARGES IN HIGH-SECURITY COURTROOM QUEBEC (CP) - Huddled in what looked like the world's largest penalty box, a group of suspected criminal bikers sat handcuffed behind a Plexiglas cage Tuesday while their lawyers launched an assault on federal anti-gang legislation. The tightly guarded courtroom is the setting for a landmark case involving 13 suspected members of the Hells Angels and a puppet criminal biker gang. The defendants pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 162 charges including drug-trafficking, kidnapping, assault and confinement. The accused are also among the first Quebecers charged under provisions of a 1997 federal anti-gang law. Sporting poker faces, casual clothes and - in most cases - long hair or thick moustaches, the defendants watched calmly Tuesday as defence lawyer Louis Belleau argued that the federal law is unconstitutional. An unrelated trial for eight biker-gang members in Montreal has already been postponed while defence lawyers wait to see what constitutional arguments emerge from the Quebec City hearings. Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean-Claude Beaulieu ordered a publication ban on details of the proceeding until a jury is selected next month. The federal law carries a maximum 14-year sentence for people involved in a criminal organization. It was created to stem the bloody drug war between the Hells Angels and Rock Machine that has claimed about 150 lives in Quebec over six years. About $10,000 has been spent on exceptional security measures for the trial, expected to begin next month. Six of the accused were led into the courtroom in handcuffs and seated behind the two-and-a-half metre cage, made of the same Plexiglas material used to line penalty boxes and protect spectators at hockey rinks. The other seven defendants, free on bail, sat in a separate prisoner's dock. "This is the first time we've used something like this at the Quebec City courthouse," said Capt. Pierre Gauvreau, a court security official. He wouldn't elaborate on the precautions. "You'll see things here and you can judge for yourself what security measures we've taken. "I don't care to discuss it." When the trial begins next month, visitors will be banned from the courtroom and forced to watch the proceedings outside on a giant-screen TV. However, spectators were allowed to attend Tuesday's preliminary hearing after undergoing two security checks while entering the courtroom. Spectators were searched and reporters were asked to provide business cards before being allowed inside. The witness stand has been shifted away from the prisoner areas to eliminate the possibility of intimidating gestures or glances at witnesses during testimony. Of the 13 defendants - men with nicknames like Pyramid, Baptist, Pops and The Tall - two are alleged members of the Hells Angels while 11 are said to belong to the affiliate Blatnois gang. About 350 potential jurors have been summoned to attend a selection hearing Feb. 19. Exceptional measures will be taken to hide the identity and whereabouts of jurors. Up to 186 witnesses are slated to testify at the trial, which is expected to last between three and five months. Tuesday's hearing was delayed an hour when jail guards, seeking a new collective agreement, stalled before transferring some of the defendants from neighbouring Orsainville prison. Police pressed their attacks on bikers on other fronts early Tuesday, raiding several hangouts of the Hells Angels and Evil Ones gangs, including the Hells bunker in Lennoxville, Que. Ten people were arrested on drug and weapons charges. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens