A provincial court judge has thrown a monkey wrench into B.C. Premier Christy Clark's plans to televise courtroom proceedings of Stanley Cup riot cases by saying the broadcast application smacks of political interference and fails to address the safety concerns of Crown prosecutors working the cases.

Provincial court Judge Malcolm MacLean on Friday afternoon said he will rule on the broadcast application by Monday afternoon, a day before Ryan Dickinson, 20, is to be sentenced for participating in a riot and a breach of his undertaking.

MacLean told Trevor Shaw, a lawyer with the provincial attorney general's ministry, he wondered whether the application to broadcast the courtroom sentencing of Dickinson goes too far.

"There is something about public shaming," MacLean said from the downtown Vancouver provincial courtroom. "To me, it sounds like extra punishment."

At issue, MacLean said, was the threat to Dickinson getting a fair sentencing.

Witnesses may be reluctant to speak on Dickinson's behalf if television cameras are in the courtroom, was one of a number of concerns the judge raised.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," MacLean added of the prospect of cameras televising the courtroom developments. "I see some fundamental issues that have to be addressed.

"You say these cases are special cases," he said of those charged with rioting the night of the Stanley Cup final game on June 15. "The attorney general has decided there must be a broadcast and it seems to be such a shift by the attorney general."

He noted that in the past, public court cases involving former premiers Glen Clark and Bill Vander Zalm, the Crown opposed having cameras in the courtrooms. He questioned why the rioters' cases are more important than cases involving top politicians.

MacLean asked Shaw why there was no estimate of the cost of televising the proceedings.

Throughout the afternoon, Dickinson, who has been in custody since mid-December, sat impassively, wearing a prisonissued red outfit.

Shaw said the equipment is all ready to go if they get the goahead to broadcast Dickinson's sentencing on Tuesday.

Last month, Dickinson became the first person charged in the riot to enter a guilty plea.

Shaw said the footage will be posted on the ministry website the next day, taking into consideration any instructions by the court on who can have their faces shown for the cameras.

Dickinson's lawyer, Gregory DelBigio, questioned the fairness of the court system in adding television cameras. And DelBigio said the process is totally political.

"He [Dickinson] is being singled out for purposes of particular interest to elected politicians," he said. "I submit this case is being singled out."

He said Premier Clark's throne speech in October and her comments to the media afterward indicate there is more at play than balanced justice.

"There is a very strong political motive for the broadcast as evidence by the political speech given and it has gone through to Crown counsel," he said.

"There is a possible perception people are being singled out by elected officials."

MacLean said the safety concerns need to be reviewed in the application, and he gave a dire warning that given the number of potential riot cases, all the broadcast applications could cause courtroom chaos. "If we have 200 of these applications, I'm afraid these proceedings will just bog the courtroom down."