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UPDATED: Nelson man found guilty of evading income tax

A provincial judge found Nelson's Warren Fischer guilty of one count of evading payment of income taxes
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Warren Fischer (centre) speaks with supporters outside the Nelson Courthouse on Tuesday morning.

A provincial judge found Nelson's Warren Fischer guilty of one count of evading payment of income taxes and endorsed a warrant for his arrest.

Judge Lisa Mrozinski read her verdict in the Nelson courthouse Tuesday morning, while Fischer stood outside with dozens of supporters in peaceful protest. The judge had previously allowed his trial to proceed ex parte, without him in the courtroom.

Fischer, representing himself, was not present for any of the trial, which took place over four days from April 22 to 25. A sheriff was sent outside to inform him that the judge was about to make her ruling. Some of his supporters were in the courtroom to hear it.

The court heard previously that Fischer had evaded paying $60,000 in income taxes for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008. He also faced three lesser charges of making false statements on tax returns he filed for those years.

Judge Mrozinski stayed the false statement charges, meaning only the tax evasion conviction will be considered during sentencing. The maximum sentence Fischer could face is a fine equivalent to 200 per cent the amount owed, plus two years in jail.

Unlike the trial, the sentencing hearing cannot proceed without Fischer present in court. The arrest warrant the judge approved will be used to bring him into the courthouse for sentencing and possibly to hold him in custody between court dates.

Fischer had little interest in talking to media outside the courthouse. Irene-Maus Gravenhorst (who prefers to be identified as ©Irene-Maus: Gravenhorst-Kiapilanoq-CAPILANO™ in print), a member of the Sovereign Squamish Government who has been speaking on Fischer’s behalf, explained that Fischer is awaiting settlement on a counterclaim, which he filed through their government's court, seeking financial compensation for "criminal violations against him." He will not participate in the BC court system until he's received his settlement, according to Gravenhorst.

Fischer is seeking trillions of dollars in damages from everyone involved in the provincial court case, from the judges to the Canada Revenue Agency representatives who searched his home for evidence and the Nelson Police Department officers who supervised the search.

In a YouTube video posted on the website of Sovereign Communications Network website (sovcom.net), Fischer calls this tactic "sovereignty through paperwork."

"Because I am a member with the Sovereign Squamish Government I decided that, in order to protect my rights as a sovereign man, I was going to charge them for the crimes they committed against me," he says on the video, explaining that his notice of charges was authenticated by the Sovereign Squamish Government's common law court and when the accused parties didn't respond, that court issued a default judgment against the individuals, their superiors and their employers, including the Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada.

His claim includes a $333 trillion daily penalty for non-payment.

Outside the courthouse, Gravenhorst said that provincial and federal laws do not apply to members of the Sovereign Squamish Government and that arresting Fischer would be a violation of international law (i.e. the law of the Sovereign Squamish Government).

"It would be an act of war against a peaceful, sovereign nation," she said.

Fischer is known in the community as doctor of Chinese medicine, however he is no longer registered with the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners.