Trial starts in Quebec City mosque shooting case

QUEBEC CITY: A Canadian man went on trial Monday for an attack on a Quebec City mosque last year, pleading not guilty to charges of shooting to death six worshippers and wounding many others.

As each of the 12 counts of murder and attempted murder against him were read out in court, Alexandre Bissonnette, 28, murmured: “Not guilty.”

The rampage on Jan 29, 2017 was one of the deadliest ever against Muslims in a Western country, leaving six dead and more than 30 injured, including one man who is now tetraplegic.

The gunman opened fire at the end of Sunday prayers at Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Centre, a mosque located in a normally quiet neighbourhood.

Police say Bissonnette called an emergency line after the shooting and confessed. They found him in his car, parked on the side of a rural road about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the mosque, and arrested him.

Judge Fran ois Huot has ordered a publication ban on evidence to be presented at the trial.

The accused appeared to show little interest in the court proceedings, only occasionally glancing in the direction of his lawyers.

The trial is scheduled to last until the end of May.

Described by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a ‘terrorist attack’, the shooting spree was a brutal blow to Canada’s multicultural, open and tolerant society, and to a nation that welcomes tens of thousands of refugees each year.

The attack emboldened nationalist and right-wing extremists who have become more vocal against immigration and ‘radical Islam’, despite distancing themselves from the young attacker seemingly inspired by their rhetoric.