TORONTO — Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne says the treatment of an inmate held in segregation for four years is "extremely disturbing," but she is declining to call it torture.
Adam Capay was in isolation for 52 months at a Thunder Bay, Ont., jail, held in a Plexiglas cell with the lights on 24 hours a day.
After his case gained public attention, Capay was moved to a standard cell, with access to a day room, telephone and television, but is still being kept apart from the general population.
The 23-year-old First Nations man is awaiting trial on a murder charge in connection with the 2012 death of another inmate.
Critics have called Capay's treatment torture, but Wynne says while it is "extremely disturbing," she will not "make a judgment on a particular word or characterization."
Wynne says as the province reviews the use of segregation in its correctional facilities, officials should be checking to see if any other inmates are in a situation like Capay.
