Mexican students take to the streets this week to protest media coverage of the presidential election, which they say is biased in favor of Enrique Peña Nieto. (Eduardo Verduto, Associated Press / ) 
 
 MEXICO CITY — It's almost starting to look like a movement. 
 
 Thousands of university students have poured into the streets of Mexico City for the second time in a week to protest the way the nation's upcoming presidential election is being run and, more specifically, covered in the Mexican media. 
 
 They are especially incensed that victory by Enrique Peña Nieto on July 1 is often portrayed as a fait accompli. 
 
 About 15,000 people (by city officials' count) gathered Wednesday evening at the controversial Pillar of Light monument (seen by many here as a government boondoggle) and marched down the iconic Paseo de la Reforma. 
 
 They stopped outside the headquarters of the giant Televisa broadcasting network to demand fairer and more pluralistic TV news. "We are not one, we are not 100. Televisa, count us!" some chanted. 
 
 The protesters came from a wide range of universities: public, private; leftist, rightist, Catholic. And while many were decidedly anti-Peña Nieto — a message made clear in banners and signs — their protest appears to go beyond pure partisan politics and represents a broader questioning of Mexico's status quo. 
 
 Television channel and newspaper ownership is concentrated in a few hands in Mexico, and many of the demonstrators believe it is skewed in favor of the Peña Nieto campaign and the return to presidential power of his Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. The PRI ruled single-handedly for seven decades until being ousted in 2000. 
 
 That feeling of being left out, and a general disillusionment with a system long plagued by corruption, had led many of Mexico's young voters to sit out this campaign. Wednesday's protest, and another one over the weekend, may not be enough to turn the tide, but the efforts are attracting attention. 
 
 "The real miracle is that a complete generation that was condemned to apathy, to only observe, and to individualism, is once again making the nation's destiny their own," said Mexican writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II, who attended Wednesday's march. 
 
 Televisa and other major news organizations have defended their coverage of the campaign, noting that they are required by law to give equal time to candidates. 
 
 "I came here to ask for transparency in the media," said Chloe Nava, a student from the Panamericana University. "It seems we need to rescue that instinct as citizens." 
 
 The protests were galvanized by a visit Peña Nieto made this month to the elite Ibero-American University in Mexico City. Many students there heckled him vociferously — unusual because his campaign appearances are typically highly choreographed. 
 
 Media coverage, however, gave the incident short shrift, at least in the view of the students, and Peña Nieto's campaign dismissed it, claiming the protesters were political plants and not students at all. 
 
 In reaction, 131 Ibero students went on YouTube to prove that they were in fact students and had participated in efforts to shout down the candidate. Now, the protest movement is calling itself "I am 132," meaning everyone joins the group of 131. 
 
 Plans are in the works for additional demonstrations, members say. 
 
 A smattering of marches in other Mexican cities was reported Wednesday, as well. But generally, what happens in Mexico City does not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the rest of the country, and so it remains difficult to say how far the fledgling youth movement will go. 
 
 Still, it represents an important burst of energy in an otherwise predictable election season. 
 
 "So far, this is not a seismic movement that has shaken the campaigns, nor a tsunami that will turn electoral preferences and political positions upside down," analyst Alfonso Zarate wrote this week. But, he continued, the demonstrations "bear the most relevant questioning of the [PRI] candidate to date." 
 
 wilkinson@latimes.com ||||| Protests that began in opposition to tuition fees in Canada have exploded into a political crisis with the mass arrest of hundreds of demonstrators amid a backlash against draconian emergency laws. 
 
 More than 500 people were arrested in a demonstration in Montreal on Wednesday night as protesters defied a controversial new law – Bill 78 – that places restrictions on the right to demonstrate. In Quebec City, police arrested 176 people under the provisions of the new law. 
 
 Demonstrators have been gathering in Montreal for just over 100 days to oppose tuition increases by the Quebec provincial government. On Tuesday, about 100 people were arrested after organisers say 300,000 people took the streets. 
 
 But what began as a protest against university fee increases has expanded to a wider movement to oppose Bill 78, which was rushed through by legislators in Quebec in response to the demonstrations. The bill imposes severe restrictions on protests, making it illegal for protesters to gather without having given police eight hours' notice and securing a permit. 
 
 On Wednesday night, police in Montreal used kettling techniques – officers surrounding groups of protesters and not allowing them in or out of the resulting circle – before conducting a mass arrest. 
 
 Police immediately declared Wednesday's protest illegal, but allowed it to continue for about four hours before surrounding protesters and making arrests. 
 
 Martine Desjardins, who represents more than 125,000 students in her role as president of the federation of university students in Quebec, said protesters had been "peaceful" on Wednesday's march. 
 
 "It makes a lot of people angry," she said. "We fear that tonight, because there will be more demonstrations going on, people will become a bit more violent, because as you saw yesterday, when you are peaceful, you get arrested." 
 
 Police arrested 518 people at the demonstration, the largest number detained in a single night so far. Montreal police constable Daniel Fortier, who told reporters rocks were thrown at police, said most of those arrested would face municipal bylaw infractions for being at an illegal assembly. 
 
 "I was so so scared," said Magdalena, one of those arrested, who asked that her last name not be given. She told the Guardian that she had been taking part in the protests since February, and that Wednesday night's action had actually seemed particularly peaceful. 
 
 "This was one of the most jovial I've taken part in," she said. "We were commenting how in good spirits we were, how everyone seemed in such great energy. There were families, children, women with strollers, which you don't necessarily see at the night protests as much," she said. 
 
 Protesters were allowed to walk freely and briskly through Montreal, she added, but that changed when they came to certain intersection, the pace of the march slowing dramatically. "We didn't think anything of it," Magdalena said. "All of a sudden you just smelled tear gas and could see smoke, and people were running." 
 
 Magdalena said people from the front of the march came running back past her and her friend, who had been strolling with their bicycles. "We turned around and there was already a line of cops behind us. We tried to go on the other side but then there was cops there too. 
 
 Police officers then tightened their ring around the "hundreds" of protesters, she said, not allowing anyone in or out. Magdalena said this situation continued for an hour, before everyone in the group was read their rights. After that, it was another "hour or two" before she was detained with plastic handcuffs and led to a city bus. She said they were then kept on the bus for "hours and hours" and were not allowed to go to the toilet. "I have some medical problems, and I wasn't feeling well. I really needed some water and I needed some sugar, and they were really awful, they said they didn't care," she said. 
 
 Magdalena said she was eventually charged with being part of an unlawful assembly, and given a ticket for $634, which she said she planned to contest. 
 
 Protesters have vowed to continue the nightly protests that began on 14 February when Quebec's liberal provincial government announced it would introduce tuition fee increases over a five-year period. The Quebec government's department of education, leisure and sport says fees would go up by $325 (£200) per year for five years from autumn 2012, a total increase of $1,625. 
 
 The protests have resulted in a backlash against the Quebec prime minister, Jean Charest, who has refused to back down over the tuition fee increase, and the new law. 
 
 Students have been boycotting classes over the past three months, arguing that the increases would lead to an increased dropout rate and more debt. 
 
 In response to the protests, the provincial government rushed through Bill 78 on 18 May. As well as the restrictions on protests, it suspends the current academic term and provides for when and how classes are to resume. 
 
 Some student organisers said that the introduction of the bill, far from cowing the demonstrations, had actually brought more support for their cause. 
 
 'This draconian law has revolted me' 
 
 Mathieu Murphy-Perron, who has been helping to organise demonstrations against tuition fees since last year, said: "I would say that I've seen more individuals come out and say: 'You know what? I was neutral on the question of tuition fees, but to bring this draconian law has revolted me and I will take to the streets with you. 
 
 "There have been more and more people who recognise that Bill 78 is a breach of the right of freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and they're not going to have it." 
 
 Some legal experts argue that the bill contravenes Canada's charter of rights and freedoms. Montreal constitutional lawyer Julius Grey told the Vancouver Sun that Bill 78 was "flagrantly unconstitutional". Opposition has come from the Quebec Bar Association and the Quebec human rights commission. 
 
 In an appearance on NBC's Saturday Night Live in the US on Saturday night, the Grammy award-winning band Arcade Fire, who come from Montreal, wore symbolic red squares of cloth on their chests during their performance, in support of the protests. 
 
 Murphy-Perron said the red-hued, four sided shapes were visible "everywhere you go" in Montreal, adding that they show the "inter-generational aspect of this struggle". 
 
 "You see red squares on buildings, on homes, on children, on teenagers, on students, on bluehairs, you see them everywhere." 
 
 Desjardins said that she and other student representatives will meet with the government next week in Montreal or Quebec City to discuss tuition fees – the fourth meeting since strikes began. 
 
 In the meantime the daily marches would continue, she said, adding that protesters were also planning a protest in Ottawa, around 150 miles west of Montreal, on 29 May. Ottawa is in a different province from Montreal, and so safe from the clutches of Bill 78 – introduced only in Quebec. 
 
 "It's something to ridicule the bill," she said. "If we are restricted to have a demonstration in Montreal, or in the province, we are going to go outside the province, to Ontario, and have a big demonstration there." ||||| Enlarge Image Police make an arrest during a protest against tuition fee hikes in Montreal on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz 
 
 MONTREAL - The staggering number of student protest-related arrests in Quebec — 2,500 and counting — is about to add costs and delays to an already overburdened justice system. 
 
 The historic number has prompted two questions: what is the short-term impact on the system and what is the long-term impact on those rounded up? 
 
 Some of the accused will face lengthy waits to actually get to trial, while others will encounter similar delays fighting their fines. 
 
 Constitutional challenges are inevitable against some of the laws used to end protests, and some people will face the prospect of a criminal record that could hang over them for years. 
 
 The end result will be more pressure on the justice system, even though authorities appear confident they can deal with the numbers. 
 
 In Montreal, where most of the marches have taken place, a spokesman for the director of criminal prosecutions says 53 cases are before the courts for criminal infractions since February 2012. 
 
 "That doesn't include cases that could be transferred to us eventually," says Crown spokesman Jean-Pascal Boucher, whose office prosecutes the most serious cases. 
 
 "The director of criminal prosecutions has the human resources and manpower necessary to deal with these cases." 
 
 Three people were hit with criminal charges following rioting in Victoriaville at a recent Quebec Liberal party meeting and three other cases remain pending in that file. 
 
 But Boucher says no criminal cases have been reported in the province's other major jurisdictions of Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Gatineau. 
 
 While there are no firm tallies, at least 2,500 people have been arrested and fined since the student demonstrations began three months ago. 
 
 That number includes 518 arrests in Montreal on Wednesday night. With further arrests in Sherbrooke and Quebec City, the final number that night swelled to about 700. 
 
 Since this February, Montreal alone has had more than 1,500 arrests, according to police figures. The majority have been ticketed and given hefty fines for violating the province's highway safety code and municipal bylaws. 
 
 But it's obvious many are unclear on the ticketing process. One exasperated defence lawyer told Twitter followers on Thursday not to call her in the middle of the night. 
 
 "We don't call legal aid, or a lawyer in the middle of the night because we were issued a ticket," tweeted Veronique Robert. "A little calm despite the context, please." 
 
 Some in Montreal have been charged under a new anti-mask bylaw that results in fines for demonstrators who cover their faces during public protests. 
 
 Quebec's controversial Bill 78, emergency legislation designed to severely undermine the ability of student groups to impose school shutdowns at faculties, has been used sparingly as authorities try to figure out how to apply it. 
 
 The use of the safety code has already been contested in court and a Montreal civil rights lawyer says the anti-mask bylaw and Bill 78 could also be challenged. 
 
 Julius Grey says it's a good thing students are being ticketed and not charged criminally. 
 
 "I prefer them using this rather than using the Criminal Code because it doesn't create a criminal record for people," Grey said in a phone interview. 
 
 "A criminal record is an absolutely devastating thing, nothing is ever forgotten and 30 years later people will be coming up (listed) as a convicted criminal." 
 
 "I still think it's terrible but I think it's very important not to give criminal records to idealistic students." 
 
 The mounting number of fines and arrests is a cause for concern, according to student leader Leo Bureau-Blouin. 
 
 "In three months: 2500 arrests / Night of May 23: 450 arrests - worrisome arrests that show how improvised Bill 78 is," Blouin wrote on Twitter. 
 
 Many of the fines levied in recent weeks are expected to be contested. While they won't have a lasting effect on a permanent record, the cases promise to clog up Quebec's municipal court system. 
 
 Emmanuel Hessler, 31, an independent filmmaker, was on his way to join the protest on Wednesday when he was caught in the police operation. 
 
 After six hours of detention and being photographed, he received a $634 fine — a ticket he plans to contest. He says others he was with were simply trying to get home when they were rounded up by police and held. 
 
 Hessler said he's a little apprehensive about heading back out but is determined as ever. 
 
 "(The ticketing) is certainly unjustified and it only makes people more frustrated," Hessler said. 
 
 Criminal lawyer Steven Slimovitch says people don't always grasp the kind of problems that come with having a criminal record. 
 
 "It's there (the record) and I can assure it doesn't help you," said Slimovitch, adding it's common to have problems travelling or even applying for work in some professions. 
 
 And it's no longer easy to erase a record. The Conservative government has quadrupled the cost of getting a criminal pardon, now called a "record suspension." 
 
 "We are quickly moving towards a society where there will be two classes of people — those with criminal records and those without," said Grey. 
 
 "It's not that the students don't understand, but I think our whole society doesn't know just how serious criminal record-keeping is and how important it is to move towards a system where things can be expunged." 
 
 Cases can already take years to snake through the system to trial. Quebec court and municipal courts are the venue for most non-major crimes. A spokesman for Montreal's municipal court says they are prepared to add more help if necessary. 
 
 City spokesman Gonzalo Nunez says there is no foreseeable congestion or overflow because the municipal court already processes nearly 1,000 criminal cases a week. 
 
 "We already have the necessary resources in terms of prosecutors and judges," Nunez said in an email, adding the first cases would only be heard in early 2013. 
 
 The courts have already been used readily during the protest — mainly by students attempting to gain injunctions to allow themselves to gain access to class. ||||| Enlarge Image Student union leaders Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, center, is flanked by Martine Desjardins,right, and Leo Bureau-Blouin, left, as they speak to the media after filing a motion in court to challenge the legality of Quebec's controversial Bill 78, Friday, May 25, 2012 in Montreal.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz 
 
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 MONTREAL - First the streets — now the courtrooms. 
 
 After demonstrating night after night to protest a controversial law aimed at limiting protests against tuition hikes, students and myriad other groups are carving out another battleground. 
 
 Lawyers for student federations and other groups filed two legal motions on Friday against Bill 78, the law adopted May 18 to crack down on the protests. 
 
 The first motion seeks to temporarily suspend sections of the law that involve public protest. It will be heard next week in Superior Court. 
 
 The second motion is to have Bill 78 declared invalid altogether, although it may take longer to reach a judge. 
 
 Bill 78 has been used sparingly by police across the province, but the groups mounting the legal challenge say it severely restricts the fundamental rights of citizens. They call the motions ambitious but necessary. 
 
 The government argues the law preserves the rights of students to attend school. 
 
 It lays out strict regulations governing demonstrations, ordering assemblies of more than 50 people to give eight hours' notice for details such as the protest route, the duration and the time at which the demonstration is being held. 
 
 Individual organizers and student groups could face huge fines if they don't comply. The penalties range between $1,000 and 5,000 per individual; $7,000 and $35,000 for a student leader; and between $25,000 and $125,000 for unions or student federations. 
 
 One student association said Friday that just one fine would be enough to empty its bank account. 
 
 The legislation also provides for fines for anyone who prevents someone from entering an educational institution. 
 
 The student groups, labour federations and a wide range of other organizations claim the law is unconstitutional and a violation of basic rights. 
 
 "We are doing this because we are genuinely worried that basic important rights such as freedom of association, freedom of expression and the right to hold peaceful demonstrations are being attacked," student leader Leo Bureau-Blouin told a news conference outside the Montreal courthouse. 
 
 He said students are being prudent about their chances. 
 
 Besides the student and labour groups, others supporting the legal action include feminists, ecologists, artists and community groups. 
 
 "We're happy we're not alone in this," said Martine Desjardins, a student leader who represents university students. 
 
 "A lot of citizens in Quebec — not just students — are fighting for their rights to be preserved." 
 
 Another student leader described the motions as the biggest constitutional challenge in the history of Quebec. Those bringing the motion forward say they represent one out of four Quebecers. 
 
 "It's a unanimous answer (from) the civil society of Quebec against this unjust law that is for us is clearly breaking the fundamental rights and freedoms of our country," said Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. 
 
 Replying on behalf of the government, Transport Minister Pierre Moreau appeared unimpressed with the large number of groups rallying around the cause. 
 
 "I've pleaded (as a lawyer) long enough to know that what is important is not the number of applicants, it is the quality of arguments," Moreau said Friday. 
 
 "The government took the time to prepare the law quickly. We have jurists and constitutional experts who think the law will stand." 
 
 While the government indicated it would comply with the opinion of the court, Moreau said it's ironic that student leaders are going to court after chastising their own members who sought injunctions to return to class. 
 
 "They're going to court to declare the law unconstitutional, but when the courts recognize constitutional rights or the right to study, they do not recognize the judgment," Moreau said. 
 
 Veronique Hivon of the Opposition Parti Quebecois said she isn't surprised by the legal motions. 
 
 "It was written in the sky that that law would be challenged," she said. 
 
 "I won't speculate about their chances of success, but within 24 hours, the Quebec Bar talked about the law being unacceptable and 45 law professors signed a letter to that effect. So certainly, the violations of law are very serious." 
 
 The first of the two motions is expected to be heard next Wednesday and is aimed at obtaining a temporary suspension of the law. 
 
 The objective of the second procedure is to have the entire law struck down. If the case can make its way through Quebec courts quickly, it could wind up before the Supreme Court of Canada in short order, Bureau-Blouin said. 
 
 "We hope that we will obtain something but, as you know, the judge will be the one to decide," said lawyer Giuseppe Sciortino, one of nearly 500 lawyers who have volunteered their time to put the case together. 
 
 On Friday night, the regular nightly demonstration in Montreal began amid a cacophony of clattering pans in the park where it always gets going. There were similar get-togethers in other neighbourhoods, with the increasingly popular pots-and-pans protest being shouted down in one area by an angry passerby. 
 
 Police once again declared the main demonstration illegal under a municipal bylaw because a route hadn't been provided. But bad weather proved to be more of a deterrent than police as flashes of lightning brightened the sky as people banged their metal pots. 
 
 The sky opened up shortly after the march moved out, drenching participants and sending many scattering for a nearby subway station. 
 
 Even though the rain was pounding at some points, a strong contingent of protesters marched on, almost seeming to revel in the downpour. They carted umbrellas and covered themselves in flags. Some even doffed their clothes and got stern warnings from police although there were no arrests. 
 
 "Riot police seems to be having a good time tonight," tweeted Laurent Bastien. "Saw them sharing a laugh in their van." 
 
 Other marches were held in other Quebec cities, including Sherbrooke and the provincial capital. There were also reports a demonstration was held in support of the students in downtown Toronto. A picture posted on Twitter showed a crowd milling around Dundas and Yonge streets holding picket signs aloft. 
 
 Students in Ottawa had a small protest on Thursday. 
 
 Bill 78 was introduced as a response to mounting student protests after the Charest government's insistence it would not back down on a previous announcement it would hike tuition fees by $325 a year over five years, beginning this coming September. 
 
 That would have eventually boosted the figure to nearly $3,793 a year in 2017. 
 
 The government later offered to spread the total hikes over seven years to $1,778, compensated with cuts to other fees. That would work out to an increase of about $254 a year, 
 
 While the proposed hikes would still leave Quebec with some of the lowest rates in the country, the issue has flared into a clash of ideologies. The students have called for a tuition freeze but the government has flatly rejected any idea of that. 
 
 Negotiations are expected to resume next week. 
 
 Meanwhile, protests of varying shapes, sizes and themes have been going on for three months and have picked up steam over the past month with nightly marches in Montreal featuring several thousand people. 
 
 Of the few thousand arrests, only a minority have been for criminal infractions. The vast majority have been for municipal bylaw and highway code violations. As for Bill 78 violations, the only reports of arrests have been in Sherbrooke and Quebec City. 
 
 Lately, regular citizens have been showing their own defiance to the bill by clanging pots every night at 8 p.m. as a form of popular defiance. 
 
 "We've seen from the outset that the population is behind us and, more than ever, people want to be able to exercise their right to freedom of expression, freedom of association and the right to take part in peaceful demonstrations," Dejsardins said. 
 
 "This is a new step in the fight against tuition hikes." 
 
 (With files from Nelson Wyatt)
– With countless students taking to the streets of Quebec to protest tuition hikes, the number of arrests over the last three months has already hit 2,500—and it's still growing. Protesters were initially furious over the increased fees; now they're also opposing a new law limiting demonstration rights, the Guardian reports. Bill 78 requires protesters to get a permit and give police eight hours' notice before holding a demonstration. But it hasn't held protesters back: Some 300,000 marched in Montreal Tuesday, prompting 100 arrests. The next night, police let what they dubbed an illegal protest continue for four hours, then began arrests, with 518 people ultimately detained. While protesters say they were peaceful, police say rocks were hurled at them. Still, students' efforts continued last night, expanding outside of Montreal and Quebec City to smaller towns and featuring marchers clanging pots and pans, the Winnipeg Free Press reports. (Elsewhere in North America, students are voicing their anger over a very different issue: Mexico's presidential election.)