Why Is The Trial Of Louis Riel Unfair

In 1884, the Métis people sought help from Louis Riel to help them grab the attention of the Canadian government who had been ignoring their complaints and petitions, and treating them as lower class citizens. They needed Riel to be the effective voice to speak on their behalf in order to obtain rights to elections and such so that their land was not threatened by immigrants from the east due to past experiences. After attempting to fight the Battle of Batoche, he was accused of high treason, and a five-day trial was held of which Riel had pleaded guilty and was then sentenced to death. The trial of Louis Riel suffered many imperfections and did not contain the number of merits as one would have thought. Riel was deprived of justice and mercy

Hugh Richardson was the presiding magistrate at Louis Riel’s trial. The government had appointed him out of satisfaction. What was unjust about appointing him was his lack of independence and the fact that he was part of the Orange Order Protestants of which were the individuals who wanted to see Riel dead. Richardson did not speak French and lacked experience in trials such as Riel’s. When it came time to for him to make his judgement, it was “less than a dozen words” and he had given no reasons whatsoever as to why he made the ruling he did. Riel had a jury of only six men, all of which the magistrate, Richardson, had personally chosen, none of which were Catholic nor Francophone. They had found Riel guilty, however had a recommendation of mercy that was soon denied by Judge Richardson by having Riel sentenced to death. Upon allowing the jury to come to a verdict, Magistrate Richardson had failed to point out important points to the men such as, the fact that certain charges against Riel had not been proven. Another judicial issue of Louis Riel’s trial was how the charges that were laid against him were ancient and from the laws of the British. They were illegally applied to and therefore proving how the conviction and

He had sated that Riel had “committed a cold-blooded murder” and how the “whites” would never forget it in both Manitoba and Ontario. According to the article by Paul Groarke, the only reason that Louis Riel was sentenced to high treason was simply because the punishment for such a crime was mandatory and just so happened to be death. One of the most unjust political act that had taken place throughout the trial of Louis Riel was the interference of the Minister of Justice, Alexander Campbell. Campbell had decided to write a private letter to the military leader in attempt to convince them of why Riel’s trial should take place in Regina instead of Winnipeg. His reasoning behind this was to ensure that Riel had a jury of only six men instead of the common-law of twelve and to guarantee he was deprived of any Francophone or Catholics on his jury, and strictly had “Anglo-Saxon” individuals. Louis Riel should have had a longer life than he did. Being accused of invalid charges and then being illegally executed in attempt to preserve the rights and culture of the Métis. The number of imperfections that