Kevin Martin

Calgary judge stays pimping-related allegation against two Quebec men after ruling Criminal Code sections unconstitutional

Eidsvik made the ruling after finding the Criminal Code sections the pair was charged under were overly broad and violated the constitution

Pimping-related charges against two Quebec men who acted as drivers for prostitutes in Calgary were thrown out Monday by a city judge.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Kristine Eidsvik agreed with defence lawyers Kim Arial and Shannon Gunn Emery that the charges against Mikhail Kloubakov and Hicham Moustaine should be judicially stayed.

Eidsvik made the ruling after finding the Criminal Code sections the pair was charged under were overly broad and violated the constitution.

At the request of Crown prosecutor Aurelie Beland, Eidsvik suspended her declaration of invalidity for 30 days so that the government can respond to her ruling while preventing "parasitic-type" behaviours the laws are meant to prevent in the interim.

It's expected the Crown will appeal the judge's ruling and ask the Alberta Court of Appeal to further suspend the invalidity finding.

Eidsvik had earlier determined both Kloubakov and Moustaine had violated sections of the Criminal Code making it illegal to materially gain from prostitution and for procuring women into the sex trade.

The judge found as paid drivers the pair gained from the women's prostitution and they were parties to the principals who brought the women into the trade.

But she found those offences in the Criminal Code were overly broad in violation of the Charter and ruled them constitutionally invalid.

A third accused, Sergei Dube-Cavalli, pleaded guilty last June on the first day of their trial, admitting acting as a chauffeur for women forced into prostitution.

Justice Willie deWit handed Dube-Cavalli a 28-month prison term after a joint submission by Crown and defence lawyers.

Beland told court at the time that because of the sophistication of the scheme a 28-month term was on the low side, but conceded there were mitigating circumstances that justified some mercy by the court.

Among those was the fact that when one of the victims wanted out, he drove her to the airport to assist her escape.