Justice is supposed to be blind. Not in Canada it seems.
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Summary
Constable Daniel Montasian is on trial for the manslaughter of Somali-born Abdihir Rahman Abdi, who died in the course of the arrest of Abdi in which he was allegedly sexually assaulted by a fellow officer.
Transcript
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Things are not always as they appear and memories in high stress situations can
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play tricks on well-meaning people. This happens often in allegations of police
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brutality when officers trying to make an arrest with an uncooperative suspect
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have to use violent methods to take control. Such was the case in an Ottawa
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courtroom this week in the manslaughter trial of Ottawa police officer Constable
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Daniel Montasian. Montasian was charged following the arrest of Somali-born
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Abdihir Rahman Abdi who died in the course of the arrest. Police were responding to
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six complaints of sexual assault, women being groped by Abdi. Montasian and
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Constable Dave Weir engaged Abdi and he fought back. He was holding a 30-pound
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construction rubber weight above his head and was swinging it trying to fend off
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the officers. Ross McGee, a federal civil servant, was jogging with his wife in the
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area at the time of the arrest. He said he was, quote, shot and surprised, unquote, at
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the sight of Constable Montasian immediately without warning deliver five or six
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haymakers to Abdi's head while Constable Weir restrained Abdi's arms. He said as
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much to a CBC reporter which triggered protests in Ottawa streets as Black Lives
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Matter mustered their outrage. He was cross-examined at trial by Montasian's
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defense counsel, Solomon Friedman, and admitted some of the impressions he formed
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that day were incorrect. After being shown frame-by-frame security camera footage of
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the arrest, he said, quote, I think obviously there are some aspects of the
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statements I've made in certain places that have been demonstrated to me to be
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incorrect, unquote. He goes on, quote, it has certainly changed my impressions of
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the events of that day and changed my impressions of the conduct of the officers,
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unquote. In other words, statements he gave to the SIU investigators, to the CBC and in
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court, were wrong. What he thought he saw was wrong, likely created by his preconceived
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notions of the police and how they treat minorities. He is, after all, a bureaucrat
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and doesn't live in the real world. But he will face no consequences for giving
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inaccurate information to the court. Contrast that to the four RCMP officers who
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responded to a disturbance complaint at YVR Airport in October 2007 that
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ultimately resulted in the death of Polish traveller Robert Zakansky. In the
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follow-up Braidwood inquiry, the four testified and there were minor
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inconsistencies in their testimony. In essence, there was the question of whether
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they wrestled Zakansky to the ground or they wrestled with him on the ground. A
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But a special prosecutor was appointed and the four were charged with perjury.
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Two were convicted and jailed, and two were acquitted.
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The two were jailed because they remembered things a little differently during a high-stress
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situation with adrenaline flowing, having to go hands-on with an uncooperative suspect.
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Just as an aside, all four have filed lawsuits against the RCMP, one has since settled.
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Two of the officers have laid criminal complaints with the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission
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for the RCMP against the Commissioner of the RCMP, Brenda Luckey, and then Commanding Officer
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These complaints are wending their way through the system as we speak, and investigators from
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K Division in Alberta have been assigned to investigate the allegations. Although, I will
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say it is hard for me to understand how two NCOs can investigate superior officers with any
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Meanwhile, Ross McGee told blatant untruths to a court in the prosecution of a police officer,
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Justice is supposed to be blind, not in Canada it seems, and most especially not when police