Probe launched into Minassian comment leak from inside jail
TORONTO — The Ontario government has launched an investigation into a leak from a Toronto jail related to a man accused of killing 10 people and injuring 16 others in a van attack this week.
The investigation was triggered by a Toronto Sun article about accused mass killer Alek Minassian. It was accompanied by a photograph, taken inside the Toronto South Detention Centre, of an inmate said to be Minassian.
The report cited anonymous sources from inside the jail. They said they either spoke to Minassian or heard him say that he had no regrets about the victims and that he wished he had been shot by the Toronto police officer who arrested him.
A spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said publicly sharing photos or information about an inmate is unacceptable conduct.
“It is not appropriate for the ministry to publicly comment on any individuals in its custody,” Andrew Morrison said in an email.
“For security reasons, it is not appropriate for anyone in the ministry to publicly disclose specific locations of inmates.”
Monte Vieselmeyer, chairman of corrections division for Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents correctional workers across the province, said he does not condone correctional staff sharing information about inmates.
“I’ve been in the ministry for 27 years and we do take an oath upon being hired into the ministry, and I have concerns that images would be leaked or information, because that’s not within our mandate,” Vieselmeyer said.
He said it was possible the information and photo were leaked by someone other than a union member.
Daniel Brown, a criminal defence lawyer, said the leak could play a role at a trial.
“This type of information could significantly prejudice an accused person’s fair trial rights and it may undermine his evidence at trial,” Brown said.