Suspended Canadian Senator Patrick Brazeau has pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual assault and assault stemming from an incident at his home in Gatineau, Quebec, earlier this month.
The assault and sexual assault charges were filed against him on February 7, just a day after a senate committee announced it hired independent auditors to examine Brazeau’s expense claims.
According to court documents obtained by the Globe and Mail and La Presse, an argument about aboriginal issues became a violent confrontation that saw Brazeau allegedly spit in the female complainant’s face, grab her neck and push her down the stairs of his home.
I’m wounded not, but I’m not slain. I’m brusied and faint they say Just let me lie and bleed awhile; I’ll not be long this way.
— SenPatrickBrazeau (@TheBrazman) February 22, 2013
He is also alleged to have ripped a bra and shirt the woman was holding. In addition, the complainant alleged that Brazeau grabbed her breast aggressively and attempted to pull down her pants, breaking the button and zipper.
The dispute is said to have started when the woman confronted him about his views on the Idle No More movement, and expressed her disagreement with his stance on the issue.
Brazeau has been a vocal opponent of the ongoing aboriginal protest movement that started in Canada and has since gone global.
Court documents revealed today show that Brazeau pleaded not guilty to all charges, and is expected to return to court on March 22. On February 12, senators passed a motion forcing him to take a leave of absence.
The former national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, Brazeau was appointed to the Senate in 2008 by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Since his arrest at 9:10am EST, Feb 7 2013, Patrick Brazeau has earned $6,942.78 as a Senator of Canada.
— BrazeauSalary (@brazeau_salary) February 26, 2013
(Via PatrickBrazeau.ca)