Woman claims sexual assault by Ontario city councillor
Alleged incident occurred during Turkey trade trip
TORONTO • A Canadian woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by an Ontario city councillor while both were on a trade mission to Turkey has been left “twisting in the wind” by police and civic officials, her lawyer has charged.
The woman went to local Peel Regional Police and was interviewed just after returning to Canada more than a month ago, said criminal lawyer Michael Moon in an interview last week.
But she’s heard nothing more from officers, and been given no support by the City of Brampton, despite a statement from the Toronto-area municipality that it had “zero tolerance” toward sexual misconduct, said the lawyer.
Brampton officials say they referred her complaint to police and the city’s integrity commissioner, but Coun. Gurpreet Dhillon has strongly denied any kind of misconduct while on the trade mission, calling the allegations baseless and defamatory.
Moon said his client has an audio recording of her alleged interaction with a politician, and has been told the hotel in Ankara, Turkey, has security video showing a man entering her room.
However, it seems as if her case has “withered on the vine,” leaving the woman wondering why.
“Everybody knows about it and everybody knows about what evidence there is, and nobody is doing anything about it,” he said. “She is just twisting in the wind … I’m profoundly disappointed.”
Moon asked that the woman’s name not be published. There is an automatic ban on revealing the identity of sexual-assault complainants if and when actual charges are laid.
Meanwhile, she may face a more fundamental obstacle in having her complaint considered.
With some limited exceptions — such as sexual abuse of children abroad — Canadian law does not allow prosecution of crimes that occurred in other countries, says Janine Benedet, a criminal law professor and sexual-offences expert at the University of British Columbia.
“It would be up to the Turkish criminal justice system,” she said.
However, the woman was advised by officials at the Canadian embassy in Ankara not to go to Turkish police and wait until she got home to report her allegations, says Badar Shamin, a businessman who was part of the trade mission organized by the Canada-turkey Business Council. He told the National Post last week the woman talked to him about the alleged incident the morning after it purportedly happened.
Regardless, Justin Safayeni, a lawyer representing Dhillon, said his client denies the more-detailed allegations about the incident levelled by Moon Thursday, considering them “completely baseless.”
Const. Danny Marttini, a Peel police spokeswoman, confirmed the force did speak to the woman. But she said Peel turned over the file to the RCMP, deciding it had no jurisdiction over the case, and told the alleged victim it would likely do so.
“Because the incident did take place out of the country … there isn’t anything else we can do.”
The RCMP says it will not comment on any possible investigation unless a charge is laid.
Moon said his client was never told the case had been sent to the RCMP, and has not heard from the Mounties. In a statement Tuesday,
Dhillon said he had not been questioned by any police or city officials, a month after the complaint was filed.
The woman has also not heard from the city’s integrity commissioner, or anyone else from the municipal government since her initial contact with staff and Mayor Patrick Brown, said the lawyer.
Meanwhile, he said, “her life has been upended.”
Asked about Moon’s comments, a City of Brampton spokeswoman and Brown himself referred to the same statement the municipality issued earlier in the week. It said the city referred the matter to police and the integrity commissioner immediately after hearing about allegations against a councillor, and has “zero tolerance regarding any type of sexual misconduct, harassment, or bullying.”
Moon alleged the incident occurred when a man entered his client’s hotel room in Ankara, tried to force himself on her and removed some of her clothes.
She had started the audio recorder on her cellphone, and it captured her pleas that the behaviour stop, alleged Moon. The man eventually left.
Moon declined to make the recording available, saying that he and his client are still waiting to see if police pursue an investigation.
He confirmed that she visited the Canadian embassy that day, but said the diplomat and RCMP officer she spoke to offered little help, failing even to get her medical attention.