(OTTAWA) The federal government said Wednesday that France has rejected the extradition request of a priest accused of crimes against children in Nunavut.
Posted at 2:18 p.m.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) requested the extradition of Joannès Rivoire, who was in Canada from the early 1960s until 1993.
Rivoire is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant, issued in February, on a charge of indecent assault on a child, stemming from a complaint received last year. The offense occurred between 1974 and 1979.
He had previously avoided trial over multiple allegations of sexual abuse that allegedly occurred while serving as a priest in Nunavut.
A group representing the Inuit of Nunavut traveled to France last month to seek his extradition.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said in a Twitter post that it is “sorry to see this serious injustice happening again.”
According to the SPPC, France has indicated that it does not have the right to extradite its own citizens. Moreover, according to French law, too much time elapsed between the events and the filing of the charges. It is also for this reason that the French authorities cannot prosecute Rivoire in France.
Mr. Miller indicated that the federal government is working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) “so that Interpol publishes a notice of search which could lead to the arrest of Joannès Rivoire in another country”.
“A prosecution in Canada is therefore always possible if Joannès Rivoire leaves France,” he added.
The PPSC says this prosecution would be in the public interest.