30 years later, Canadian Inuit hope for the extradition of a French priest whom they accuse of sexual assault

The case resurfaced with the visit of Pope Francis at the end of July to the indigenous peoples: Canada asks France to extradite Johannes Rivoire. This French priest is accused of sexual violence against Inuit children, when he was a missionary in the Canadian Far North between 1960 and 1993. At 92, he now lives in an Ehpad in Lyon, under house arrest by his congregation.

“The victims have been ignored for decades”, denounces one of the Canadian deputies who carry the file. The first complaints against Johannes Rivoire date back to the 1990s. Young Inuit then accused him of sexual assault or rape when they were children. In 1998, Canada issued an international arrest warrant, without result: the monk was in France. This mandate is lifted in 2017.

But last winter, a 53-year-old woman filed a complaint in turn. This is what reopens the investigation, and revives the hopes of Inuit MP Lori Idlout. “We all want the possibility of justice being donesays the deputy. Now we must remove all barriers to ensure that Rivoire is brought to Canada. Thus, he can be judged where he committed his criminal acts.”

“It is important that he be tried in Canada because there is an emergency, he is getting old and among his victims one of the plaintiffs is dead. I want to make sure that the families can get what they are looking for, which is i.e. be believed.”

Lori Idlout, Inuit MP

at franceinfo

There is a size barrier: Johannes Rivoire has dual French-Canadian nationality, and with rare exceptions, France does not extradite its nationals. French MP Aurélien Taché calls for a reflection on this law. He supports the Canadian request. “This French tradition of not extraditing our nationals who have dual nationality in particular seems to me to have to be re-examined when we are actually in a case of sexual crimes”, explains Aurélien Tache. For the deputy of the New Popular, Ecological and Social Union, “we are dealing with a mechanism of systemic violence in these Indian residential schools. So this case is of an extremely important political nature and I think that this tradition, in these kinds of cases, with the symbolism and the magnitude of the crimes that have been committed , must be re-examined.”

In conjunction with Aurélien Taché, an Inuit delegation will come to France in mid-September to plead for extradition. Father Rivoire has always denied the accusations. The Chancellery for its part requested additional information from Canada on the extradition request.