Mosque killer sentenced to life, no parole for 40 years

evening prayers on Jan. 29, 2017 and opened fire. The murder victims were Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42; Abdelkrim Hassane, 41; Khaled Belkacemi, 60; Aboubaker Thabti, 44; Azzeddine Soufiane, 57; and Ibrahima Barry, 39.

The sentence was denounced by survivors of the attack and other Muslim community members.

Aymen Derbali, who was shot seven times and left paralyzed from the waist down, told reporters he did not understand why the judge dwelled on Bissonnette’s life expectancy and the possibility that he would die in prison.

“We were astonished, we were very upset after this sentence,” Derbali said.

Boufeldja Benabdallah, president of the mosque that was attacked, said community members were “stunned” by the decision and felt the judge was more concerned about the dignity of the killer than that of the victims and their families.

“We want to appeal to Quebec society to understand us, to understand the pain we are in today, the disappointment we feel,” he said.

Said El-Amari, who was wounded at the mosque, said the decision made him feel like “a Muslim Canadian citizen is worth less than any other citizen.” He compared the sentence to that of Justin Bourque, who received 75 years without parole for killing three RCMP officers in New Brunswick in 2014.

“Nobody asked whether (Bourque) would have the time to get out and live in society or not,” he said.