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Press Conference — The Bennis family refuses to participate in coroner’s inquiry so long as legal fees aren’t covered
The Justice for Anas Coalition’s application to be recognized as "interested party" is refused
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 at 10:30am
Immigrant Workers Center
4755 Van Horne, Suite 110
(Metro: Plamondon)
with:
Mohamed Bennis, Anas’ father
Alain Arsenault, Bennis family lawyer
Samir Shaheen-Hussain, Justice for Anas Coalition
Philippe Robert de Massy, La Ligue des droits & libertés
The Bennis family recently received formal notice that the coroner’s office will not cover the fees for their legal representation during the coroner’s inquiry into the causes and circumstances surrounding the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis, set to begin on April 27, 2011. Calls for the Minister of Public Security, Robert Dutil, to revise this decision have thus far gone unanswered. If the Bennis family’s legal fees are not covered, they will not be able to participate in the coroner’s inquiry into the death of their brother and son. Meanwhile, the Justice for Anas Coalition’s request to be recognized as an interested person in the inquiry has been refused by the presiding coroner, Catherine Rudel-Tessier. On the eve of the start of the coroner’s inquiry, the Bennis family, the Justice for Anas Coalition and supporting groups re-iterate the demand that the inquiry proceed in a full, public and independent manner. Anas Bennis was shot and killed by Montreal police officer Yannick Bernier on December 1st, 2005.
For immediate release
Bennis family refuses to participate in coroner’s inquiry into Anas’ death until legal fees are covered
The Justice for Anas Coalition’s application to be recognized as an interested party is rejected
Several weeks ago, the Bennis family’s request to have its legal fees covered during the coroner’s inquiry into the causes and circumstances surrounding the death of Mohamed Anas Bennis, set to begin on April 27, was rejected by the coroner’s office. Since, requests to have the Minister of Public Security reverse this decision have gone unanswered. Therefore, on the eve of the inquiry’s beginning, the members of the Bennis family have no choice but to boycott the inquiry into the death of their own son and brother, who was killed by Montreal police officer Yannick Bernier on December 1, 2005.
Mohamed Bennis, Anas’ father who travelled to Montreal from Morocco specifically to be able to attend the inquiry, and who still plans on attending the first day of the inquiry, states: “If our legal fees are not covered, the only parties participating in this inquiry will be those representing the interests of the police. Let’s not forget that those are the same parties that, through the use of public funds, attempted to prevent the inquiry from taking place in the first place! How fair can the inquiry be if that is the case?”
Meanwhile, the Justice for Anas Coalition’s request to be recognized as an interested party was recently rejected by the coroner presiding over the inquiry, Catherine Rudel-Tessier. The Justice for Anas Coalition is shocked by the coroner’s decision. According to Samir Shaheen-Hussain, a member of the Coalition: “We have worked tirelessly on this case for years and, as a result, are in an ideal position to raise issues and concerns relevant to many community groups and organizations. The refusal of our application highlights the manner in which the public is being shut out of this inquiry.”
Years after waging an uphill battle to obtain a public inquiry in the first place, and then being dragged into a protracted -- and financially draining -- legal battle to prevent the Montreal Police Brotherhood from having the inquiry cancelled, the Bennis family finds itself forced to boycott the proceedings. The fact that the inquiry is scheduled to take place in Laval, that the Bennis family’s legal fees are not being covered, and that the Justice for Anas Coalition’s application to be recognized as an interested party has been rejected raise concerns that the public inquiry will not be accessible. Mohamed Bennis concludes: “It is lamentable and a travesty of justice that the coroner’s inquiry may proceed without our participation. If it does, it will be a public inquiry without the public. It will be a sham.”