A judge of the Superior Court of Quebec ruled Tuesday against the permanent closed session requested by the Attorney General in a civil trial, in order to protect evidence in the still ongoing investigation into the murder of Cédrika Provencher in 2007.
Judge Gregory Moore made this decision Tuesday as part of the $10 million lawsuit filed by Jonathan Bettez, who claims to have been unfairly targeted by Sûreté du Québec (SQ) investigators since the disappearance of the nine-year-old girl. in Trois-Rivières in 2007.
The bones of Cédrika Provencher were found in Trois-Rivières eight years later, in December 2015, but no one was accused of her murder.
Lawyers for Quebec’s Attorney General said this week they did not want to harm the police investigation by disclosing sensitive information during civil trial hearings.
Witnesses called by the SQ told the court on Monday that Mr. Bettez was still a suspect in this case. But his lawyer, Jessy Héroux, argued that Mr. Bettez was innocent and was eager to testify at the civil trial.
This week’s hearing aimed to determine which SQ documents Mr. Bettez could access while his lawyer prepares the file. Government prosecutors, for their part, wanted the trial to be held entirely behind closed doors, to ensure the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
Judge Moore, however, decided on Tuesday that the hearings would generally be public: the court will decide on a case-by-case basis whether it must protect sensitive information, by a non-publication order or by decreeing a temporary closed session.
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