Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Accused In Quebec City Mosque Shooting Changes Lawyer During Brief Appearance

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 30 Mar, 2017 12:35 PM
    QUEBEC — The accused in Quebec City's deadly mosque shooting formally changed lawyers on Thursday during a brief court hearing.
    Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, appeared briefly before Quebec court Judge Jean-Louis Lemay and acknowledged he was bringing in a new attorney.
     
    Bissonnette faces six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder using a restricted firearm arising from the Jan. 29 deaths.
     
    Jean Petit, a defence lawyer who'd been representing Bissonnette since his arrest, recused himself.
     
    He was replaced by Charles-Olivier Gosselin, a legal-aid lawyer.
     
    Dressed in a black shirt, Bissonnette was attentive during the proceedings as he sat behind a glassed-in prisoner's box.
     
    Asked by the judge if he wished to change his legal representation, Bissonnette responded, "Yes sir."
     
    The case was then put off until May 29.
     
    Mosque president Mohamed Yangui said he still fears going to the mosque where Mamadou Tanou Barry, Ibrahima Barry, Azzeddine Soufiane, Abdelkrim Hassane, Khaled Belkacemi and Aboubaker Thabti were killed.
     
    The six victims, aged between 39 and 60, died when a gunman stormed the mosque and opened fire on men who were attending prayer.
     
    Nineteen people were wounded in the attack and Bissonnette was arrested shortly after the incident.
     
    "It's very difficult," Yangui told reporters after the proceedings. "I can't express my feelings today. When I go to the mosque now, I can't pray properly. I always have the feeling there's someone behind me who will shoot me."
     
    He said the mosque has received other threats since the shootings, which were called a terrorist act by both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard.
     
    Yangui said he will fight to the end to have the acts declared as terrorist.
     
    Exceptional security measures were still in effect Thursday at the Quebec City courthouse, where each person was subject to a pat-down and a metal-detector search before being permitted to enter the courtroom.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Dalai Lama Describes Himself As 'Son Of India'

    Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday described himself as a “son of India” and hailed the secularism prevailing in the country.

    Dalai Lama Describes Himself As 'Son Of India'

    Our Fight Is Not For Kashmir, It’s For Islam: Hizbul Commander In New Video

    Our Fight Is Not For Kashmir, It’s For Islam: Hizbul Commander In New Video
    Top Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Zakir Rashid Bhat has purportedly come out with a new video where he is heard saying the militancy should not aim to create a new nation of Kashmir but for the supremacy of Islam.

    Our Fight Is Not For Kashmir, It’s For Islam: Hizbul Commander In New Video

    B.C. Woman Acquitted Of Counselling Distraught Husband To Commit Suicide

    B.C. Woman Acquitted Of Counselling Distraught Husband To Commit Suicide
    A woman accused of counselling her husband to commit suicide has been acquitted by a provincial court judge in Cranbrook, B.C.

    B.C. Woman Acquitted Of Counselling Distraught Husband To Commit Suicide

    Halifax Police Chief Takes Part In Heated Debate Over Street Checks

    Halifax Police Chief Takes Part In Heated Debate Over Street Checks
    HALIFAX — Marcus James said he's been arrested three times while locking up the library where he works in Halifax's historically black north end — twice by police officers he had trained about diversity.

    Halifax Police Chief Takes Part In Heated Debate Over Street Checks

    'Unconscionably Stupid:' Judge Blasts Man For Balloon Flight Over Stampede

    'Unconscionably Stupid:'  Judge Blasts Man For Balloon Flight Over Stampede
    CALGARY — A man who strapped more than 100 helium balloons to a lawn chair and soared above the Calgary Stampede grounds apologized at his sentencing today.

    'Unconscionably Stupid:' Judge Blasts Man For Balloon Flight Over Stampede

    Police Allege Ex-patient Shot And Killed Ontario Chiropractor In His Clinic

    Police Allege Ex-patient Shot And Killed Ontario Chiropractor In His Clinic
    BURLINGTON, Ont. — Police say an Ontario chiropractor has died after a former patient allegedly shot him at his clinic.

    Police Allege Ex-patient Shot And Killed Ontario Chiropractor In His Clinic