The Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) wished to rectify certain facts after the publication of the report of a coroner who assured that the justice system would not have fulfilled its role to help a mother and her children victims of domestic violence .
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“The safety of victims remains an omnipresent concern among prosecutors and constitutes our first guiding principle in the handling of domestic violence cases,” said Wednesday in a press release Me Patrick Michel, Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions.
According to him, coroner Alain Manseau’s report concerning the 2019 murder of Dahia Khellaf and her four- and two-year-old sons by her ex-husband, Nabil Yssaad, is based “on factual and legal errors as well as an erroneous understanding of our guidelines”.
He notably recalled that the use of the anti-reconciliation bracelet would have been impossible since this technology was only made available last June.
Regarding the seven successive prosecutors in the case, the DPCP affirmed that only three prosecutors were in contact with the victim, including one who died during the proceedings and one who was replaced during his vacation.
“We believe that the interventions and verifications required with the victim, as well as the judicial processing of the file, were carried out in compliance with our directives and applicable law. Such a report should therefore not discourage victims of domestic violence from filing a complaint.
“This report should not tarnish our efforts and those of our partners to improve the lot of victims of domestic violence as victims speak out publicly with their faces uncovered to encourage others to engage in the legal process”, added Mr. Michel, who recalled the role of the court specializing in domestic violence recently created.
An orderly public inquiry
The findings of the DPCP were communicated on Tuesday to the chief coroner, Me Pascale Descary, who decided to order a public inquiry.
“In recent days, new facts have been brought to the attention of the Coroner’s Office which lead the Chief Coroner to believe that it will be useful to hear witnesses in order to establish the circumstances of the four deaths. with the greatest possible accuracy,” he explained in a press release on Wednesday.
A coroner investigator will soon be appointed to chair this public inquiry.
