Français English
Racial profiling in our midst?
Bennis family demand justice
Khadija Bennis has quietly grieved the loss of her beloved twin brother for over a year, as she patiently waited to access information surrounding the bizarre circumstances of his killing. But now, with no information forthcoming, she is speaking out.
Twenty-five-year-old Mohamed-Anas Bennis was shot dead by a Montreal police officer shortly after leaving dawn prayer at his neighbourhood mosque at the corner of Côte-des-Neiges and Kent on December 1, 2005. Bennis was shot twice: two bullets fired from above ripped through his body, one striking his heart. The Montreal Police allege Bennis was carrying a kitchen knife at the time and the shooting was an act of self-defence.
But Khadija Bennis, her family and their community have grown frustrated by authorities who refuse to make evidence available, including videotape that captured the incident.
"This is a case of racial profiling," says Khadija Bennis. "The investigation is over, but we still have no details. Something is being hidden or else the information would come out."
Indeed, the Bennis case has been supremely secret. Although Quebec City police did undertake a closed investigation, there were no criminal charges laid against the police officers involved in the incident. To this day, the Crown and police reports remain secret, suppressed by Quebec Minister of Public Security Jacques Dupuis.
"It's very hard to believe what the police/coroner are saying, because Anas was the most gentle person," says the victim's sister. "He would
Become a member
tell me, 'Khadija, make sure you don't walk on ants' - he was [that] conscious of the environment, and plants. He was spiritual, very generous and loving."
On January 7, approximately 4,500 people participated in a demonstration to demand a public inquiry into Bennis' death, though nothing has come of it to date. Another protest is being planned for February.
"[Racial profiling] is a social problem," Khadija Bennis implores. "Anyone's brother or father could be in the same situation. We don't want that to happen to anyone else. We live in a free society and we don't want those protecting us to be killing us."