(Montreal) The Senegalese Embassy in Ottawa deplored on Saturday the dissemination of “false and shocking” information about one of its collaborators, aiming according to it to “dilute the seriousness” of the “unacceptable police violence” suffered by the diplomat.
Posted at 5:00 p.m.
His arrest in early August caused an outcry in Senegal and the embarrassment of the Canadian government.
Mme Niang Oumou Kalsoum Sall, Foreign Affairs Advisor, was the victim of “humiliating physical and moral violence”, being handcuffed and beaten, according to Dakar, during an intervention at her home by the police in Gatineau, a Quebec suburb of ‘Ottawa.
The intervention aimed to accompany a bailiff coming to notify the diplomat of an order from an administrative housing tribunal. This obtained by Radio-Canada and consulted by AFP condemned the diplomat to pay more than 45,000 dollars to her landlord for “unpaid rent” and damage to housing.
In an information note at the end of the week, the Senegalese embassy considers that the “allegations” against Mme Niang “betray a manifest desire to dilute the seriousness of the incident which relates to a flagrant and serious violation of the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.
She also regrets that the information relayed by the press “is based on the only version of the lessor”.
Intending to “restore the facts”, the note details the long disputes of Mme Xiang with her landlord, arguing that she had been acting in good faith throughout, that she had suffered heating and humidity problems from the start due to non-compliance with building standards, and that her landlord was threatening towards him.
Exasperated, M.me Xiang finally decided to move out in October 2020 and, upon handing over the keys, offered the housing manager the last rent due, which he refused.
Still according to the embassy, Mme Xiang received a few months later by way of a bailiff a request for payment of 57,207 dollars to cover, in particular, the costs of rebuilding the house.
Mme Xiang for her part indicated through a lawyer that she only owed the landlord the rent for the month of October that the manager had not wanted to take.
The Embassy believes that in light of these explanations, the charges against Mr.me Xiang do not hold.
“Nothing in this case can justify the violence suffered by Mr.me Xiang and her minor children”, concludes the embassy by indicating “to follow very closely the investigation which was ordered on the unacceptable actions of the police officers”.
The Canadian government condemned the incident as unacceptable.