Greek drivers may have been fined €100 since last summer if they make obscene gestures, but in Canada, a Greek-born judge ruled that the gestures are perfectly legal and “God’s right.”

An interesting decision was announced as part of a civil trial. The defendant, Neil Epstein, a teacher and father of two, was arrested in May 2021 for threatening and making the famous middle finger gesture to a neighbor in Beaconsfield, Quebec.

Judge Denis Galiatsatos acquitted the defendant on February 24, explaining the reasons for his decision in a 26-page text.

Gestures towards neighbors can be rude, he said, but “to be perfectly clear, this is not a crime.”

In fact, far from being a crime, it is “a charter-guaranteed right from God that belongs to every full-blooded Canadian,” notes Galiatsatos, referring to the Canadian charter of rights and freedoms.

Finally, between the serious and the funny, the Greek-born judge notes that “contrary to what the public thinks, the courts don’t drop cases”, although in his own case “the court tends to take the case file and fly out the window.”

“Unfortunately, there are no windows in Montreal courtrooms,” Judge Denis Galatsiatos concludes.

According to the Guardian, AFP