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Five-and-a-half years later, the public inquiry into the death of Anas will finally begin!
Come to the Laval Courthouse (2800 Saint-Martin Blvd West) this Wednesday, April 27th at 9:30AM, to show support for the Bennis family!
More than five years after Mohamed Anas Bennis was killed after being shot by officer Yannick Bernier of the Montreal police in Côte-des-Neiges, the public inquiry presided by coroner Catherine Rudel-Tessier will finally begin this week. The Justice for Anas Coalition is requesting that people come out in large numbers to support the Bennis family by being present at the public hearings of this inquest which start this Wednesday, April 27th at the Laval Courthouse (2800 Saint-Martin Blvd West).
Since the death of Anas on December 1st, 2005 the Bennis family hasn't stopped fighting for truth and justice and to find out what happened surrounding his violent and unexplained death. The police version, according to which Anas inexplicably attacked an officer with a kitchen knife, has never been proven. In addition to this, the Montreal Police Brotherhood as well as the City of Montreal have done everything they could to prevent this inquiry from taking place. It is only after the refusal of the Supreme Court to hear their appeal in a similar case (ie., to try to prevent a similar public inquest into the death of Michel Berniquez, who died after his brutal arrest by six officers in Montreal-North in 2003), that they decided to abandon their attempts to quash this coroner's inquiry.
The Justice for Anas Coalition therefore filed an application to be given interested party status throughout the inquiry, in order to shed light on the circumstances around Anas' death. Since the beginning of this case, many questions have been left unanswered. For example, we wonder why the investigators of the Quebec City police who made a so-called independent investigation into Anas' death didn't find it useful to analyze the fingerprints or blood on the knife that was supposedly found on the scene by Bernier's colleagues. We also wonder why the video of the incident that cost Anas his life was never made public. There are also many more questions and inconsistencies that have come to our attention. Meanwhile, the public inquiry will be the first time that officer Bernier and his partner Jonathan Roy -- who was found guilty by the Police Ethics Committee for breaching five counts of the police ethics code in an unrelated case of police brutality against a Black man that occurred in Côte-des-Neiges in 2008 -- will have to testify publicly and be cross-examined.
Unfortunately, the Coalition was very recently informed that its application for interested party status had been rejected by coroner Rudel-Tessier. As it stands, the Justice for Anas Coalition, which has been struggling alongside the Bennis family for years, will not have the right to take part in this public inquiry. Since the government has also thus far refused to pay the Bennis family's legal fees, this public inquiry might well happen without the participation of those who have the most at stake, namely, the family and the community. Meanwhile, the officers involved, the Montreal police and the City of Montreal, and the Montreal Police Brotherhood will have lawyers paid with public funds to represent them!
We realize that the inquiry taking place in Laval makes it difficult to attend. But, we are nevertheless encouraging people who want to attend the hearings to wake up early and come to room 1-07 of the Laval Courthouse (2800 Saint-Martin Blvd West) at 9:30AM this Wednesday, April 27th. The Bennis family has specifically requested for supporters to attend on the morning of the first day of the hearings. Come by car or take the 42, 61 or 70 bus from Montmorency metro in Laval (please refer to the relevant bus schedules before coming).
For now, the hearings are set for April 27, 28 and 29, as well as the week of May 2nd to May 6th. After April 27th, get in touch with the Coalition to make sure that you don't go all that way for nothing (see our contact info below). Usually the hearings take place from 9:30AM to 4:30PM, with a long break at lunch time and breaks in the morning and the afternoon.
The time has come to show your support for the Bennis family and to show the government that we want more than ever the truth, justice, and an end to police abuses and impunity!