Minister’s husband not criminally responsible for attack

HALIFAX — The husband of Nova Scotia’s immigration minister is undergoing a 45-day psychiatric assessment after being declared not criminally responsible for allegedly assaulting, threatening and choking his wife on New Year’s Eve.

Chris Hansen of the Public Prosecution Service said Friday that Maroun Diab was deemed not criminally responsible after undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

The results of the assessment will be provided to the Criminal Review Board, which will decide how to proceed, she said.

Diab had been released on a series of conditions in January, including one prohibiting him from having any contact with his wife, Lena Diab, and two other people. His lawyer, Mark Knox, said at the time that he was later admitted to hospital under the province’s Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act.

He also faced two counts of threatening two other people.

Halifax police said he was arrested early New Year’s Day after they received a call shortly before midnight from the Diabs’ home near Mount Saint Vincent University.

Lena Diab later described the incident as a “very tragic, sad, private and personal matter,” and thanked the community for supporting her family.

Lena Diab, a lawyer and business owner, was appointed Nova Scotia’s first female justice minister after winning office in October 2013, and was named to the immigration portfolio in 2015.

Under the Criminal Code, someone found not criminally responsible could receive an absolute discharge, a conditional discharge or be kept in hospital.