Yves Engler is a Canadian activist and writer based in Montreal whom John Kiriakou has known for a long time and describes as a “good guy.” Kiriakou recorded a podcast with him shortly before the March 2025 interview in which he gave this account.[1]
Engler wrote an article criticising a well-known Canadian Zionist — a woman Kiriakou says Engler did not threaten but criticised, on the ground that she does not respect the human rights of Palestinians. “Next thing you know he’s under arrest for hate speech, and all he said was that he supports Palestinian human rights. There was no hatred there.”[2]
Engler spent five days in jail in a prison 40 miles outside Montreal before making bail, and was then set for trial.[3] Kiriakou reports Engler’s own expectation during those days — “people are going to see how ridiculous this is; I didn’t do anything wrong, I have freedom of speech, I’m a Canadian citizen, I’m talking about human rights” — and the response instead: “they’re doubling down.”[3]
The additional charges
After his release, preparing for trial, Engler telephoned the arresting officer to ask for the documents and police reports his attorney would need. “They charge him with extra crimes. They charged him with four counts of harassment of a police officer, because he sent a couple of emails and made a couple of phone calls.”[4]
He was also suspended from Twitter and from Facebook. Kiriakou generalises the pattern — “you use the G-word and you lose your access to these platforms” — and cites the case as the concrete answer to what a censorship-resistant platform would be for.[5]