This priest is accused of sexual assaults on young Inuit in the 1960s, when he was on a mission in the Canadian Far North. Charges he disputes.
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They had traveled to Paris to support their request. The Ministry of Justice announced to a delegation of Canadian Inuit that it refused the extradition of a French priest accused of sexual assault, the Chancellery told AFP on Tuesday (September 13).
Joannes Rivoire, a Franco-Canadian residing in France, is the subject of an extradition request filed in early August by Ottawa. He is accused of sexual assaults on young Inuit in the 1960s when he was on a mission in the Canadian Far North, charges he disputes.
A second arrest warrant in Canada
“It was recalled that, in accordance with its constitutional tradition, France does not extradite its nationals”the Chancellery told AFP. “Nevertheless, in close relationship with Canada, France has requested all the elements allowing the facts to be established and the limitation period for public action to be interrupted”, the ministry added. The Chancellery points out that “France stands ready to respond to any request for mutual legal assistance made to it by Canada”.
So far the priest, who left Canada in 1993 after 33 years in the field, has never been worried. After a first arrest warrant between 1998 and 2017 for the sexual assault of three minors, he has been the subject of a second arrest warrant in Canada since February, after the filing of a new complaint in September 2021 for an assault. sexual intercourse which occurred approximately 47 years ago.