A leader of a gang suspected of being behind a wave of extortion and arson enjoys ordering pizza from his cell to taunt the authorities, but never stops complaining about his prison conditions. detention.
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“He doesn’t have access to school or any programs and doesn’t have access to any activities. His level of security is increased without valid reason,” Sylvain Kabbouchi recently affirmed through his lawyers, convinced that his conditions of detention were illegal.
Since last year, Kabbouchi, 25, has gone to court three times to challenge his detention conditions, which he considers different from other detainees. But the latter were not suspected of having participated in an attack on a prisoner, who had his tongue cut out, in January 2023, at Rivière-des-Prairies prison.
And the following month, he ordered pizza over the phone, supposedly to “make the guards laugh.”
“Although the correctional officers seem to have found the situation funny, the department director ordered that he be given a breach report,” lamented Sylvain Kabbouchi in one of his legal appeals.
He also complained of not having access to a working television, that the door of his refrigerator was damaged, and that the fresh air in his cell was making his health problems worse.
His most recent recriminations date back to this fall, when he claimed that the increased security measures against him at the Montreal Detention Facility violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Influential, even in prison
These special measures could, however, be explained by the fact that Kabbouchi would be compared to “one of the most influential players in organized crime in Quebec” by the prison services.
“He is involved in all crimes: collection, trafficking, discharge of firearms, kidnapping and now murder too,” said a captain of the Sûreté du Québec, describing him as “a real headliner of violence in Laval” according to our Bureau of Investigation.
Because this young gangster from Laval would exercise strong influence within the Arab Power gang, even if he is currently in detention. His cell is sometimes searched every week, but he does not seem to have any difficulty obtaining a cell phone to control his network, according to our Bureau of Investigation.
Despite this, Kabbouchi was convinced that he should be treated like any other inmate. Especially since August, he has sworn to have a respectful attitude towards others.
“He doesn’t have [depuis] been found guilty of no violent disciplinary breach”, we can read in his most recent request criticizing the correctional services for not justifying the special measures against him.
However, he abandoned his lawsuit before there was a judgment, as with the two others filed previously.
– With Ian Gemme, Investigation Bureau, and Maxime Deland, QMI Agency
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