At Toronto event, Margaret Atwood reiterates need for due process in Galloway case

As Steven Galloway concluded his testimony in his defamation trial in Vancouver, in Toronto, author Margaret Atwood reiterated her stance as a defender of due process in his case.

Atwood, who was receiving an award at a Journalists for Human Rights event, spoke about her decision to sign an open letter in November 2016 calling for an investigation into how the University of British Columbia handled the Galloway case.

Atwood faced intense backlash and scrutiny from the public after expressing support for the former UBC professor, comparing the online criticism to the French Revolution.

“Luckily, I couldn’t be fired from the university or blacklisted from festivals,” she said.

“Or if I was, I didn’t notice.” She also referred to Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for “the right of every human being to a fair, open and impartial trial.” She lamented the Canadian media's reluctance to cover the case over the last eight years.

"Finally, the Canadian press is covering it after eight years of mostly not," she said.

"As one of those attacked online, trashed and derided as a due processor for asking for an open investigation with information and evidence from the University of British Columbia, I'm happy to see that." Atwood has written opinion articles, most recently in the Vancouver Sun this week, in support of Galloway.

She added that legacy media publications face growing pressures and dwindling revenue, which make it difficult to “defend against lawsuits.” “This has made them more cautious,” she added.

Atwood also worried that social media has made the public more distrustful with a growing tendency to believe anything posted online.

"There's a youngish place where something resembling news can appear and even be believed by the uncautious," she said.

"As you know, that place is social media." Galloway, known for the award-winning novel “The Cellist of Sarajevo,” is in the middle of a defamation trial against several people who he alleges published unproven allegations of sexual assault.

One of the defendants includes a former student, known as A.B., who made sexual assault allegations against him that later spread on social media.

Galloway was fired from UBC shortly after rumours of the accusations spread in late 2015.

He was a tenured professor and the former chair of UBC’s creative writing program.