Hamilton paramedics face criminal charge in Al-Hasnawi case

Two paramedics who responded to the shooting of Yosif Al-Hasnawi in December 2017 have been charged with failing to provide the necessities of life, according to the president of the union representing Hamilton and Brant County front-line paramedics.

“It’s a serious development,” Mario Posteraro told the Spectator. “It constitutes an unprecedented legal attack against two career paramedics who continue to be blamed and shamed.”

Posteraro said the charges were laid Wednesday by Niagara Regional Police. He said the Hamilton Police Service handed over part of the process of investigating the case to the Niagara force.

“This (criminal charges) doesn’t happen,” said Posteraro, president of OPSU Local 256. “This hasn’t ever happened to my knowledge in Ontario.

“We’re dealing with inconclusive information and charges that carry five years incarceration maximum sentence. It’s very worrisome.”

Al-Hasnawi, 19, died in hospital after being shot Dec. 2, 2017, when he tried to stop two men from harassing an older man outside the Main Street East mosque where he had been attending a religious celebration.

According to reports at the time, witnesses said the responding two paramedics, who have not been named, did not act appropriately or take Al-Hasnawi’s injuries seriously enough.

Posteraro said he understands the grief of the family, but “the fault lies at the hands of the murderers,” not the paramedics.

Police could not be reached for comment.

The failure to provide the necessities of life charges fall under Section 215, subsection 3, of the Criminal Code of Canada.