Death of Abdirahman Abdi: the first witness of the coroner’s inquest heard

The coroner’s public inquest into the death of Abdirahman Abdi began on Monday. After a reminder of the facts and the objectives of the process, the first witness took the stand in this entirely virtual hearing.

The Dr. David Edenwho chairs the investigation, reiterated that the objective is not to find a culprit, but rather to allow a jury of five people to come to recommendations to prevent such an event from happening again in new.

Abdirahman Abdi, a 38-year-old Canadian of Somali origin, died on July 25, 2016, the day after a brutal arrest.

The jurors will also have to determine whether his death was due to natural causes, an accident, a homicide, a suicide or if the cause is undetermined.

The investigation will also look into a wider range of issues raised during the trial, including how Mr Abdi was treated by the police. It will also discuss the use of police force, intercultural competence and racism against black people.

What happened on July 24, 2016?

Before hearing the first witnesses, the lawyer for the victim’s family, Lawrence Greensponread a statement on behalf of the relatives of Abdirahman Abdi, the fourth child of seven. The family fled their country of origin, Somalia, to find refuge in Kenya before arriving in Canada in 2009 .

Described by those close to him as a happy man, Abdirahman Abdi got married in Ethiopia in 2015.

Upon his return, he became silent, reclusive and developed mental health problems. […] He was treated in hospital and at a mental health center. He was prescribed medication, but didn’t take it all the timeread the lawyer.

Family is still present in the life of the child Abdirahman Abdi, a girl who was born seven months after his death.

Then, the two lawyers of the investigation, Maria Stevens et Alessandra Hollandscontextualized the day of July 24, 2016, listening to calls from citizens to 911 where they denounced the erratic behavior of Mr. Abdi, who allegedly touched a few women.

Darren Courtney was the first witness called to the stand on Monday. He is a psychiatrist from Toronto who was visiting Ottawa to see his sister. He said he exchanged a few words with the victim a few moments before the police attempted to arrest him.

The psychiatrist remained calm, aiming to buy time before police arrived, which he deemed necessary given the man’s instability, he said.

Initially, he had agreed to put one of his hands behind his back. As I remember, he decided to run away when he saw the policeman take out his handcuffs. He started running. The policeman kicked him behind the knee. [M. Abdi] fell, got up to run away againsaid Dr. Courtneywho did not see the conclusion of the lawsuit.

Around twenty witnesses expected

In all, 25 witnesses will appear during this investigation led by Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion. Among them, there will be speakers, experts as well as the two police officers who chased Mr. Abdi, namely Dave Weir and Daniel Montsion.

The latter punched him several times with gloves reinforced on the knuckles. Charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon, Mr. Montsion was found not guilty in 2020 after a widely publicized trial.

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Daniel Montsion’s testimony at the coroner’s inquest is eagerly awaited given that the defense had chosen not to have him testify during his trial.

The judge Robert Kelly had then declared that the Crown had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the actions of the police officer had caused the death of Abdirahman Abdi. The latter suffered a cardiac arrest before losing his vital signs. He died the next day.

The public inquiry, which is expected to last 21 days, will continue on Tuesday with the testimony of Matthew Rouselleanother citizen who interacted with Mr. Abdi on the morning of July 24, 2016.

When a person dies due to an injury sustained in the custody of a police officer, a coroner’s inquest is mandatory. In Mr. Abdi’s case, it took eight years since the coroner can only trigger it when all other investigations and prosecutions have been carried out and the appeal deadlines have expired.

Each witness will have to answer questions from a total of 11 groups participating in the investigation. These are the victim’s family, the Ottawa Police Service, the lawyer for the two police officers, a representative of Black Action Defence Committee as well as advocates for people with mental health disorders.

With information from Mario De Ciccio