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Family of Montreal man killed by police still awaiting answers

Says it's ready to sue police to get them

Source: CBC News May 16, 2008

A Montreal family may sue police in an attempt to get more details about the death of Mohammed Anas Bennis, a 25-year old shot dead by an officer on the street two years ago.

Bennis was leaving morning prayers at a mosque in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood on Dec.1, 2005, when police say he attacked an officer with a knife and slashed him in the neck and leg.

The officer shot Bennis dead and was later cleared of any wrongdoing and found to have been acting in self-defence.

The man's family has long insisted police are not telling the whole story and want a public inquiry to rectify the record.

"We, the family, want to have all the information, want to see the proof, want to be treated [with] respect," said Bennis's sister, Najlaa Bennis.

"We are fighting for justice. If by having a public coroner's inquiry and … finally [having] the answers, if we can at least learn some lessons from this, then … maybe we'll say 'OK, he's not dead for nothing,'" she said Thursday at a news conference in Montreal.

The Bennis family has not seen any police reports on the shooting or the coroner's report, and have questions about a missing video surveillance tape showing the street where Bennis was shot.

The three-year statute of limitations for calling an inquiry will expire in December, and if the force refuses to comply, the Bennis family said it is ready to sue to get the answers they need.

The case has poisoned relations between Montreal police and some of the city's Muslim communities, said Azdine Hmimssa, a spokesman for a coalition of community groups.

A public enquiry would restore the community's confidence, he said.