Quebec mosque shooter sentenced to 40 years
Muslim community disappointed Bissonnette can seek parole at age 67
Quebec City mosque killer Alexandre Bissonnette will spend at least the next 40 years in prison, a sentence that stunned members of a Muslim community that expected a harsher punishment. The sentence came just over two years after Bissonnette gunned down six Muslim men, some of them execution style, after storming into a mosque with two guns and 108 rounds of ammunition. “Through your hatred and racism you have destroyed the lives of dozens and dozens of people, and have irretrievably ruined yours and those of your family members,” Superior Court Justice François Huot told Bissonnette, 29, who showed little emotion as his sentence was handed down Friday. Huot said he imposed an “exemplary” sentence “so as to discourage those who, sharing your sectarian vision, would aspire to follow in your footsteps. Intolerance and racism decay our social fabric. It is the duty of the courts to repress them firmly when they materialize in criminal acts.” But Boufeldja Benabdallah, president of the mosque where the massacre occurred, said Quebec City Muslims were shocked by the punishment. Many expected the harshest sentence possible: six consecutive life sentences, one for each of the six murder victims. That would have added up to 150 years, eliminating any chance Bissonnette would leave prison alive. “It’s not anger that is overwhelming us,” Benabdallah told reporters. “It is disappointment.” Huot, who read a summary of his 246-page decision over six hours, said Bissonnette, “motivated by a visceral hatred toward Muslim immigrants,” committed a hate crime on Jan. 29, 2017, “a date that will forever be written in blood in this city, this province, this country.” Bissonnette, who has already served two years in prison, will be eligible for parole when he is 67. To be released at that point, he would have to convince the Parole Board he no longer poses a risk. Several women cried quietly as Huot described, second by second, how the massacre occurred, including detailed descriptions of how Bissonnette killed each of the men in a “professional, measured and hateful” manner. Two women left the courtroom in tears. Huot said he concluded that 25 years — the recommendation of Bissonnette’s lawyer — was too lenient. However, he said, consecutive sentences, whether they add up to 50 years or the 150 years the Crown was recommending, are unconstitutional because they contravene the Charter of Rights’ protection against “cruel and unusual” punishment. A 150-year sentence would have been the longest sentence in Canadian history and the harshest in modern Canadian judicial history. Under the Criminal Code, Huot would normally be obliged to impose a sentence in blocks of 25 years: 25, 50, 75, 100, 125 or 150. However, in his ruling, Huot took the unusual step of altering the law to allow him to sentence Bissonnette in a different manner. Under the sentence, Bissonnette must serve five concurrent 25-year sentences onto which is added a 15year sentence. Huot said he did that to ensure the law conforms with the Constitution. Huot said he considered several aggravating factors, including the premeditated nature of the attack, the number of victims, and the fact that it was committed in a place of worship where four children were present. But the judge also cited extenuating circumstances, including Bissonnette’s history of mental problems, his remorse, the possibility of rehabilitation, and his decision to give himself up and plead guilty. Crown prosecutor Thomas Jacques has not decided whether to appeal the sentence. “Our first thoughts are for the very many victims of the horrible and senseless crimes committed by Alexandre Bissonnette,” Jacques told reporters. “We’re thinking of the widows, the orphans, the families and the entire (Muslim) community. We salute the courage, resilience, and the great dignity shown by the victims throughout the difficult judicial process.” Charles-Olivier Gosselin, Bissonnette’s lawyer, said he would review the judgment before commenting on a possible appeal. It was the same reaction from Quebec’s Justice Department, which argued that consecutive sentences are constitutional. Parties have 30 days to appeal. Bissonnette’s parents were in court for the sentencing, but did not speak to reporters. Wearing a blue sports jacket, white shirt but no tie, Bissonnette, his wrists and ankles shackled, nodded to his parents and stared at them for several minutes as he entered the glass-enclosed prisoner’s dock. Huot ordered him to the witness box, where the killer stared at the judge as the sentence was read, occasionally turning to look at his parents and at members of the Muslim community, including several women wearing hijabs. The sentencing took place under tight security. To enter the courtroom gallery, people walked through metal detectors after security guards searched through their bags and checked coats. Ten security guards watched over those in attendance. It’s the Quebec City courthouse’s biggest courtroom, with a capacity of about 225. Every seat was taken. In the gallery were survivors of the rampage, some widows of the dead, and Aymen Derbali, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot repeatedly. As his trial was about to start last year, Bissonnette pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder. Security camera videos, presented during his four-week sentencing hearing last spring, showed Bissonnette calmly carrying out the two-minute rampage, retreating to a safe area to reload his handgun four times, and returning to some men he had shot to shoot them again. Bissonnette also pulled the trigger on a semi-automatic rifle, but it jammed. He killed six men: Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzeddine Soufiane and Aboubaker Thabti. Five other men were injured by gunfire. Another 35 people, including four children, were in the mosque. Evidence from Bissonnette’s computer showed he sought content about anti-immigrant, altright and conservative commentators, mass murderers and U.S. President Donald Trump, and the influx of Muslim immigrants in Quebec. Ottawa changed the Criminal Code in 2011 to allow consecutive sentences in multiple-murder cases, as opposed to concurrent ones. Whether to apply the provision is left to the discretion of judges, who must consider “the character of the offender, the nature of the offence and the circumstances surrounding its commission.”