QUEBEC CITY MOSQUE SHOOTER SEEKS FORGIVENESS
The man who killed six Muslims in a Quebec City mosque last year as they attended prayer sought forgiveness Wednesday for his acts and said it was “as though I was battling a demon that finished by winning out.’’
“Every minute of my existence I bitterly regret what I did, the lives I have destroyed, the pain and suffering I have caused to so many people, without forgetting the members of my own family,’’ Alexandre Bissonnette said as he read out a letter in court. “I am ashamed of what I did.’’ Bissonnette denied being a terrorist or an Islamophobe.
“Rather, I am someone who was overcome by fear, by negative thoughts and a sort of horrible kind of despair,’’ he said.
Bissonnette, 28, spoke to the court shortly after a judge accepted his guilty pleas on six charges of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder in connection with the attack on Jan. 29, 2017.
Many people in the courtroom burst out sobbing and held hands as the judge confirmed the guilty pleas.
Bissonnette originally pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges Monday morning but announced that afternoon he was changing his mind and wanted to plead guilty.
Superior Court Justice Francois Huot originally refused to accept the pleas pending a psychiatric assessment of the accused to ensure he fully
understood the consequences of his decision.
Huot placed a publication ban on Monday afternoon’s proceedings but agreed Wednesday to accept the guilty pleas.
Mohamed Labidi, a member of the Muslim community in Quebec City and a former president of the mosque, said Bissonnette’s comments left him wanting a fuller explanation of why he did what he did.
“It’s very abstract what he told us,’’ Labidi said. “We still need
other explanations. The small words don’t convince us about all the motives of the crime.
“It’s not a complete answer for me. What he said as to why he did this crime it’s very very short.’’
The charges against Bissonnette were related to a shooting attack at the Islamic Cultural Centre in which he killed six worshippers: Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Aboubaker Thabti, 44; Azzeddine Soufiane,
57; and Ibrahima Barry, 39.
Psychiatrist Sylvain Faucher, who met with Bissonnette on Monday evening, said he was “fit to stand trial and to plead what he wants to plead.’’
“He did not want to be the perpetrator of another collective drama,’’ said Faucher.
On Monday, Bissonnette said he wanted to plead guilty in order to “avoid a trial and for the victims to not have to relive this tragedy.’’