“Let’s go fight an Islamic war. » “We will take their wives and children. » According to an imam, Ali Ngarukiye had been brainwashed by terrorists and made “extreme” comments about Jihad. However, this information was never revealed to the jurors who will begin their deliberations this Saturday at his trial for attempted murder against police officer Sanjay Vig. The jury also ignores that Ngarukiye allegedly murdered his fellow inmate.
What there is to know
Ali Ngarukiye is accused of trying to kill an SPVM police officer who was handing Mamadi Camara a ticket.
Ali Ngarukiye was allegedly radicalized in an Islamic school and wanted to do “Jihad”, according to an imam.
The Crown likened the trial to a case of “terrorism”, but the judge refuted this thesis.
A file “akin to terrorism”. This is how the Crown portrayed the trial of Ali Ngarukiye by seeking to present to the jury the statements of Imam Hassan Habib at the end of October. The jurors had already heard around sixty witnesses. This “inflammatory” thesis was, however, rejected by judge François Dadour.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
Ali Ngarukiye is accused of trying to kill agent Sanjay Vig, of the SPVM, on January 28, 2021 on Crémazie Boulevard.
“If the Crown believed that terrorism-related offenses had been committed by Mr. Ngarukiye, it could have laid such charges. She did not do it. Furthermore, this is not a terrorism case, and it will not become one,” insisted the judge in a decision rendered at the beginning of November.
We can reveal these elements never publicized, because the jury is now sequestered. It is in fact prohibited to publish information hidden from the jurors during the trial.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Policeman Sanjay Vig
Ali Ngarukiye, 24, is accused of trying to kill Montreal police officer Sanjay Vig, while the latter was handing a ticket to motorist Mamadi Camara on Crémazie Boulevard in January 2021. An unidentified assailant hit the police officer, then shot him with his service weapon. Strong circumstantial evidence points to the guilt of the accused, according to the Crown.
A disturbing portrait
Why would Ali Ngarukiye target this police officer? The evidence is silent on this subject. This is why the Crown wanted to present to the jury the statements of an Ontario imam about Ngarukiye’s behavior in the summer of 2020.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Crown prosecutors Jasmine Guillaume and Louis Bouthillier
The portrait of the accused painted by Imam Hassan Habib is particularly worrying. It depicts a “respectful” and “polite” boy who had his mind corrupted by a “man” during his Islamic studies at the Cornwall madrasa. In his eyes, Ali Ngarukiye had been brainwashed.
“ [Ali Ngarukiye] said things like this: “This country is a country of non-believers. Muslims have the right to take everything. If I find a car, I’ll take it. I’m not stealing it. Even if I find a woman, I’ll just take her… I don’t rape her […]. Everything belongs to me,” said Imam Hassan Habib, according to the judgment.
PHOTO FILED AS PROOF
Rear door of an apartment near the scene of the attack in which a stray bullet was lodged
The Toronto imam maintains that Ali Ngarukiye had met people with a “history of terrorism” and that he had warned the young man to stay away from them. However, he does not specify who these people are.
Ali Ngarukiye regularly spoke of “Jihad” and “extreme things”, such as going to fight in an “Islamic war”, explains the Toronto imam in his statement.
According to him, the young man made comments like these: “We should kill the police. We don’t like this country” or “We are waiting for the moment when they want Jihad and [inaudible] we are going to defeat these people and we are going to take their wives and children.”
A country of “non-believers”
In March 2021, at the time of the suspect’s arrest in Toronto, The Press had revealed that he frequented individuals who were the subject of surveillance by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Team, because they were suspected of belonging to an extremist movement.
In his testimony at the trial, the imam was ultimately limited to reporting that Ngarukiye told him he wanted to “kill police officers” and that Canada was a country of “non-believers.” The Crown was therefore able to plead to the jury that the “motive” for the attack on Officer Vig stemmed from these explosive comments.
It was in the Imam Hassan Habib mosque in Toronto that the accused hid for two days after the attack, according to the Crown.
IMAGE TAKEN FROM A VIDEO FILED IN COURT
Still from a video showing Ali Ngarukiye with Imam Hassan Habib and others at a clothing store in Oshawa the day after the attack
In the eyes of the defense, Imam Hassan Habib wanted to take “revenge” on Ali Ngarukiye since the accused’s sister had refused to marry him. The imam even sent an extremely hateful email to his family. But for the Crown, Ali Ngarukiye was “never” the target of Hassan Habib’s anger. Furthermore, the imam did not go to the police. It was the police who went to question him in Toronto.
The judge determined that allowing the remainder of the imam’s statement would be greatly prejudicial to the accused. “There is no proof that the alleged actions of Mr. Ngarukiye were motivated by religious or political extremism,” recalled Judge Dadour.
Accused of murdering his fellow inmate
The jury also ignores that Ali Ngarukiye was accused of murdering his fellow inmate and insulting his body two months after his arrest in the Vig case. He allegedly beat André Lapierre to death in their cell at Rivière-des-Prairies prison. He has not yet been tried, but was considered “criminally responsible” by an expert.
During the legal process in 2021, Ali Ngarukiye was considered an extremely dangerous individual. He was thus subject to draconian security measures in prison. According to a judge, he posed a “threat to everyone’s safety.”
Me Jasmine Guillaume and Me Louis Bouthillier represents the public prosecutor, while Me Sharon Sandiford and Me Moana Franco defends the accused.