Ontario’s Top Pathologist Says Correctional Officers Responsible for Soleiman Faqiri’s Death at Lindsay Prison

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Ontario’s chief medical examiner has said the actions of correctional officers at Cental East Correctional Center in Lindsay were responsible for Soleiman Faqiri’s death in 2016.

Dr Michael Pollanen’s post-mortem examination dated August 5 and released by Faqiri’s family on Tuesday said the events leading up to the death of Faqiri, 30, included restraint while lying down, blunt trauma to the body. neck and body, handcuffs, shackles, the application of a balaclava and exposure to pepper spray after worsening symptoms of schizophrenia.

“His death came during the struggle and restraint of correctional officers,” Pollanen concluded.

Read more: Ontario prison guards broke use of force rules in Soleiman Faqiri’s death: court documents

According to a 2017 coroners report, Faqiri was held for 11 days and was awaiting a mental health check-up and transfer to a medical facility when he had an altercation with several guards and suffered more than 50 injuries. He was pronounced dead on December 15.

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The cause of death was “undetermined” and injuries were insufficient to explain the death, “according to the 2017 report.

New court documents in December 2020 reported that the Ajax, Ont. Man was handcuffed face down, sprayed with pepper and his head placed inside a balaclava contrary to directives and policies from Lindsay’s superprison restraint training.

Family members have been fighting for years for a review of Faqiri’s death. Three prison guards were dismissed, but one of them was later reinstated.

In June 2021, Pollanen published a new examination of the circumstances of Faqiri’s death.

“In my opinion, the foregoing analysis clearly shows that death cannot be attributed to any individually determined factor or injury,” he concluded. “It is also clear that the death was caused by the combination of several verifiable extrinsic and intrinsic cofactors.”

According to a lawyer for the Faqiri family, based on Pollanen’s new findings, the case was referred to the Ontario Provincial Police for “possible criminal charges” against the correctional officers involved in the incident.

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This will be the third time that the Soleimans case has been reviewed by police for potential criminal charges. Initially, the Kawartha Lakes City Police Department said in October 2017 that there was no basis for laying criminal charges.

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In August 2020, the Ontario Provincial Police also concluded that no criminal charges would be laid against the six correctional officers involved in the incident. OPP launched its investigation in January 2019.

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In a statement, Faqiri’s brother Yusuf said his family relives the “murder” whenever a new discovery is revealed.

“Before Dr Pollanen took over this case, no government institution had shown any interest in finding out what really happened to my brother,” Yusuf said.

“At the Ontario Provincial Police, we ask you to do your job. Stop trying to make this case go away. We will bring this case back a fourth time and a fifth time if you continue to ignore what happened here.

“The Ontario Provincial Police and the Kawartha Lakes Police Service have repeatedly let my family down at every possible opportunity. Show us that the system does not protect correctional officers when they break the law. Until then, we have no confidence in the OPP to do the right thing.

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Family lawyer Nader Hasan said Pollanen’s report had “removed any ambiguity” as to the cause of Faqiri’s death.

“It is now clear and beyond any doubt that the guards killed Soleiman,” he said. “For nearly five years, the police force hid behind the previous ‘unverified’ finding in the autopsy report as an excuse not to lay criminal charges. The Pollanen report removed any ambiguity about the cause of death. There is no longer any excuse for allowing these guards to commit murder. “

Ted Marroco, another lawyer for the family, said Faqiri was “helpless and in chains” and died as a result of a deadly combination of excessive force.

“There is no justification for what was done to him,” he said. “There is no training that allows correctional officers to use this kind of violence. Pollanen made a direct connection between the brutality Soleiman endured from the guards and the death of his body. There is no longer any mystery in the murder of Soleiman Faqiri.

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With files from Kamil Karamali / Global News

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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