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RALLY TO DEMAND A PUBLIC INQUIRY AND TO DENOUNCE THE MONTREALPOLICE BROTHERHOOD'S MOTION TO PREVENT A CORONER'S INQUEST

On December 1, 2005, Mohamed Anas Bennis, a 25-year old Canadian ofMoroccan origin, was killed by Montreal police officer Yannick Bernierafter morning prayers in his neighbourhood of Côte-des-Neiges.Sincethen, there has been a veil of secrecy that has clouded thecircumstances that led to his death and many of Anas' family'squestions remain unanswered.

For almost two years now, the Bennis family, along with the Justicefor Anas Coalition, has been demanding a full, public and independentinquiry to finally shed some light on the circumstances leading up toAnas' death.

In June 2008, Quebec's chief coroner, Louise Nolet, finally orderedan inquest into this shooting. The inquest was to be presided over bycoroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier, and was supposed to begin on September29, 2008. Even though it was not a full public inquiry as we have beendemanding -- only a conroner's inquest -- it gave some hope of finallyshedding some light on this case.

In late August 2008, however, the Montreal Police Brotherhood fileda legal motion against coroner Rudel-Tessier and the Bennis family, toprevent the inquest from taking place, alleging that all of the answersto the family's questions had already been made available. Yet, upuntil now, the family has not received answers to many of theirquestions: why has the knife that Anas supposedly used -- according tothe police version of the events -- never been produced or undergoneforensic evaluation? Why has the video of the scene never been madepublic? Why have the police officers Bernier and Roy never beencross-examined on their version of the facts as would occur in anycriminal investigation in which someone was murdered?

Quebec law stipulates that whenever a police force is involved in aviolent incident leading to a murder, another police force is mandatedto investigate the matter. This has produced a situation in which thefamily has had to deal with a non-transparent police investigation andrefusals on several levels given that the Crown Prosecutor and theMinister of Public Security have both not provided any usefulinformation – neither to the family nor to the public.

This action by the Police Brotherhood simply adds more questionsfor the Bennis family, and reveals the Montreal Police Department's badfaith and lack of transparency: if the police have nothing to hide, whyare they working so hard to stop a public inquiry from taking place? Itis worth noting that this is the same Brotherhood that filed a similarmotion to prevent an inquest into the death of Michel Berniquez (killedby a police officer in 2003), and whose president Yves Francoeur hasstated that officer Lapointe (who killed Fredy Villanueva this pastsummer on August 9) "did his job properly."

Join us in denouncing the heinous actions of the police and to demand apublic inquiry into the murder of Anas Bennis!



The Justice for Anas Coalition demands:

1. The immediate release of all reports, evidence and informationconcerning the death of Anas Bennis to the Bennis family and to thepublic;

2. A full, public and independent inquiry into the death of Anas Bennis;

3. An end to police brutality and impunity.



1. Endorse the campaign's demands (see above)

2.Write letters supporting the campaign's demands to coroner CatherineRudel-Tessier, with specific emphasis on the importance of a publicinquiry. Letters can be sent to:


3. Spread information about the Justice for Anas campaign in yourvarious networks.

4. Get involved in the Justice for Anas Coalition! Contact us if youare interested.



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The Justice for Anas Coalition
514.342.2111
justicepouranas@gmail.com