Pacifique Niyokwizera was violently detained by Quebec City police on Friday night outside a bar.
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Five Quebec City police officers have been suspended following the violent detention of black youths, the force announced Tuesday.
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The suspensions were announced amid an investigation into a video taken Friday night showing a man kneeling over one of the youths and an officer throwing snow in his face as he was arrested on the ground outside a bar. On Saturday, the Québec City Police Service said it would open an investigation after videos of the arrest came to the attention of management, saying the officers’ behavior “worries them very much.”
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The police ethics commissioner examines complaints of violations of the code of conduct governing police officers, while the EIB must investigate each time a death or serious injury occurs during a police operation.
Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said Tuesday that the incident would be dealt with in a more open and independent manner if the EIB investigated it.
Niyokwizera’s lawyer, Fernando Belton, said that an investigation by someone other than the EIB would not make sense.
“We want an independent investigation to be done because what we’ve heard so far is that the police will investigate the police, which is silly, especially for a case like this,” Belton said. “The EIB is there for that. That’s why we created that office, so why don’t we want to use it? “
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In light of the incident, Québec Solidaire calls for an independent study on racial profiling in the province. Sol Zanetti, Jean-Lesage’s MNA, tabled a motion in the National Assembly for such a study on Tuesday, but the party said in a statement that the Legault government blocked it.
“The brutal arrest of Pacifique Niyokwizera … unfortunately is not an isolated case,” Zanetti said. “We have taken note of numerous testimonies from racialized people who reside in Quebec City and who denounce the racial profiles of those who are victims.”
Belton said Niyokwizera is considering suing the city for his deal.
“The city is responsible for the actions of its police,” Belton said. “In our opinion, there is a serious offense that has been committed by the police, in the way they treated Pacifique. And we are talking about the issue of brutal arrests, but also an arrest that was motivated and based on racial profiling. “
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Belton said it is unclear why Niyokwizera was arrested. According to the lawyer, Niyokwizera and his friends were outside the bar after an altercation inside that did not involve him when the group came into contact with police officers who pepper sprayed everyone.
“What’s remarkable is that the police at one point took (Niyokwizera’s) phone, threw it away, handcuffed it, searched it,” Belton said. “They drove with him for several minutes and then left him somewhere on the street with no phone, no wallet, no cards, and told him to go home.
“I didn’t know that in Quebec we still did that kind of thing.”
With files from The Canadian Press
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Reference-montrealgazette.com