City shuts shisha lounge, postpones hearing
A bar and shisha lounge was ordered to shut down Friday as the owner awaits the outcome of an appeal hearing that was postponed until later this month.
Nyala Lounge owner Mulugeta Tesfay sought a postponement of his appeal to get his business licence reinstated. A hearing was scheduled before the community standards and licence appeal committee for Friday, but his lawyer Tom Engel argued for the delay after discovering there were materials relating to Tesfay’s defence missing from the disclosure he was given when he took over as Tesfay ’s lawyer — and that the official who cancelled the lounge’s business licence didn’t have those documents either when she made her decision in December.
When Tesfay filed an appeal days later, a stay was issued, allowing him to reopen his business in the meantime.
I’m going to fight for my kids. I’m going to fight for all African kids that live in the Edmonton area. If I suffer, that’s OK.
On Friday, a panel of Coun. Moe Banga, Coun. Tony Caterina and Coun. Jon Dziadyk agreed to postpone the appeal hearing until Feb. 19 so that Engel can collect the missing materials, but they also lifted the stay, which means Tesfay has to close down.
“You can’t fight the city, I guess. You can’t fight the city and police, but I’m not going to give up this one,” Tesfay said, reacting to the committee’s decision Friday.
Dozens of people attended the hearing to support Tesfay. He and other African-Canadian business owners have spoken out about their frustrations with police and city inspectors, arguing they are unfairly targeted.
Engel, a criminal defence lawyer, said he’ll be able to get some information through the courts, but he’s troubled by the lack of full disclosure and he’s worried important details and context are being missed.
“I’m concerned that the panel may put too much trust in what the police say. As a criminal defence lawyer, quite often that’s not warranted,” Engel said.
The Nyala Lounge licence originally was cancelled last September but reinstated one day later. The city originally cited police response to a number of violence and weapons calls, along with bylaw infractions, as reasons for shuttering the lounge. When they overturned their decision, they said it was because Tesfay hadn’t been given proper notice or a chance to respond.
At the time, Tesfay said the allegations were “pure discrimination” and the incidents police responded to didn’t start at the lounge.
For Tesfay, the fight to keep his business open has spilled into several different proceedings. Tesfay is scheduled to go to court in for a trial in April on a charge of obstruction of justice because police allege he was present when staff in his bar wiped a gun to get rid of fingerprints, and then refused to hand over security footage until a warrant was produced.
Tesfay said he also filed a complaint against police almost two years ago, but he’s been told that the file is still under investigation. He said he’s also managed to successfully fight many of the bylaw tickets issued against him.
“It took over my life over three years ago, so there is no life. I’m going to fight for my kids. I’m going to fight for all African kids that live in the Edmonton area. If I suffer, that’s OK,” he said.