No charges to be pressed in violent killing of Indo-Canadian activist
Darpan News Desk IANS, 04 Apr, 2023 10:24 AM
Toronto, April 4 (IANS) Crown prosecutors in Canada's British Columbia province have decided not to press any charges in the violent killing of Indo-Canadian activist and filmmaker Manbir Mani Amar in 2022, media reports said.
Amar, a 40 year-old father of three, was fatally injured on August 31, 2022 during a physical altercation between two neighbours, leading to the arrest of one person.
British Columbia (BC) Prosecution spokesperson Dan McLaughlin told Global News that the case didn't meet the standard for charge assessment according to the Crown.
"The BC prosecution Service can confirm that, after carefully reviewing all the investigative materials submitted by IHIT (Integrated Homicide Investigation Team) investigators, no charges were approved in the case," McLaughlin said.
When conducting charge assessment, prosecutors must weigh both whether the case has a substantial likelihood of conviction and whether it is in the public interest, he said.
"In determining whether this test is satisfied, Crown Counsel must consider what material evidence is likely to be admissible and available at a trial; the objective reliability of the admissible evidence; and whether there are viable defences, or other legal or constitutional impediments to the prosecution, that remove any substantial likelihood of a conviction," McLaughlin told Global News.
He, however, did not say what exactly did not meet the prosecution service's standards to proceed in Amar's case.
"This was an isolated incident between two neighbours, tragically this situation escalated to a point where a life was taken," Sergeant Timothy Pierotti of IHIT had said after the incident.
Amar had produced documentaries and short films focusing on guns and gangs in Vancouver. His 2009 award-winning documentary, "A Warrior's Religion" provided an insight into the gang life in Vancouver's South Asian communities.
The IMDB describes his feature film "Footsteps Into Gangland", as "an adaptation of true events that shattered Metro Vancouver's South Asian community".
Police searched the area for someone matching the suspect description, and provided aid to the victim. Despite searches of the surrounding area, no one matching the suspect description could be found.
Anand announced the plan Thursday at the Conference of Defence Associations Institute, one of Canada's largest defence conferences, saying the new weapons are needed now for Canadian troops in Latvia and other parts of Europe.
Senior author Dr. Brett Thombs, a researcher at McGill University, said that coverage of the pandemic has mostly focused on snapshots of people whose mental health has deteriorated and people have generalized that to the overall population.
The association says board members believed Turpel-Lafond's representations about her professional accomplishments and Cree heritage when it granted the award recognizing substantial contributions to civil liberties in B.C. and Canada.
The independent commission that ensures the impartial examination of complaints about the RCMP already issued an interim report to the RCMP commissioner about the matter and Farnworth's office says the commissioner agreed with the report's findings and recommendations.
During Monday night’s meeting, Surrey Council also awarded a $594,278 Consultant Construction Agreement to McElhanney Ltd., and approved the expenditure of $850,000 payable to BC Hydro for the relocation and modification of BC Hydro infrastructure necessary for the project.
