On the eve of a candlelight vigil in memory of the Guinean student shot dead last Tuesday by officers from the Saguenay Police Department, community representatives expressed concern that the event would discourage international students from choosing Quebec .
“What concerns us is that many students risk being fearful and seeing this event as problematic,” worries Dominique Kpoghomou, representative of Guineans in America to the National Transition Council, the legislative body of the West African country.
On November 28, a man of Guinean origin studying at the University of Quebec in Chicoutimi died following an intervention by law enforcement. According to the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI), responsible for shedding light on this event, the man — Mamadou Saliou Baldé, according to information obtained by The Press — allegedly advanced towards the police armed with a knife.
One of the officers allegedly tried unsuccessfully to use an electric shock weapon (Taser gun) to subdue the suspect. One of the police officers then opened fire towards the attacker, who was pronounced dead on the spot.
The police were reportedly called to intervene after an argument broke out between Mr. Saliou Baldé and one of his roommates. A video shot by area residents shows the intervention, and we can see the suspect shirtless, despite the cold weather.
“Worrying”
At first glance, “the young man’s behavior seems reprehensible,” notes Mr. Kpoghomou. “But that there are no other solutions than to kill the person? This is what is worrying, and which risks worrying international students. »
Criminal lawyer Pierre Brunelle also agrees. He was made aware of the event.
Since the event, Mr. Kpoghomou claims to have been contacted by worried parents. He hopes that Canada and Quebec, “welcoming places”, will not lose popularity with students from his country and from West Africa.
A vigil in memory of Mamadou Saliou Baldé is planned for Saturday evening, rue des Hospitalières, in Chicoutimi, at the same place where the latter died. Marcellin Gbazai, organizer of the event, wishes to reassure people in the “immigrant community”. “They are worried, they are afraid,” he said in an interview with The Daily.