Thursday, April 16, 2009
Sikh teen gets absolute discharge for assault with hairpin, by Marie-Êve Marineau
MONTREAL — A Sikh teen won't have a criminal record after he was granted an absolute discharge on a conviction on one charge of assault with a hairpin.
The local Sikh community expressed relief Wednesday that the judge in the case also acquitted the 13-year-old on two other assault charges — including one that stemmed from the alleged use of a ceremonial dagger on a classmate in Montreal last September.
Youth court Judge Gilles Ouellet said there was enough reasonable doubt created by contradictory testimony for the acquittals.
That came as a relief to community members who have seen the dagger, known as a kirpan, come under increased public scrutiny in recent years.
“The community is happy in the sense that the case has nothing to do with the kirpan,” said Ishan Singh, a community member and friend of the accused's family.
“A kirpan has never been nor will it ever be a threatening weapon. A kirpan is a religious object and it is sacred to the culture and the religion and in that case (the ruling is) a relief to the community.”
But Judge Ouellet said there was “technically” enough evidence to convict on the single assault charge.
However, Judge Ouellet said he gave the unconditional discharge because it is time for everyone involved to move on.
That means the youngster will not have a criminal record.
The pin, which is not a religious object, is used to tuck loose strands of hair into a turban.
The spat took place off school grounds in Montreal last Sept. 11 and stemmed from a tale of jealousy over the friendship of a mutual schoolyard chum.
The two victims were angered that a friend preferred to play with the accused instead of wanting to hang around with them.
They alleged that the Sikh teen assaulted them by threatening them with the hairpin and one of them said he was poked with the kirpan, which was wrapped in a cloth and worn by the accused near the waist under clothes.
The accused had received the kirpan only days before the alleged incident after being baptized.
In his ruling, Judge Ouellet said the case would have been better served by the mediation process and that it may not have ended up in court had all the parties come from the same background.
Defence lawyer Julius Grey agreed.
“I think the boys came from different millieus and the parents didn't understand each other and they did not have the way open to them to sit down and work it out amongst themselves,” Mr. Grey said.
But the Crown questioned the timing of Judge Ouellet's remarks.
“I don't think those comments were appropriate ... especially given the evidence the judge saw,” said Sylvie Lemieux, adding her office will review the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.
The kirpan was returned to the teen Wednesday but the hairpin was ordered destroyed.
In 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a Montreal school board's ban on the wearing of the kirpan. The school attended by the accused and the alleged victims in the case is part of the same board.
“I think (this case) would have gotten a bit less media attention if it had not been a Sikh boy and certainly if it not had involved a kirpan,” Mr. Singh said.
“But maybe a lot more people know about the religion know and understand better the religious value a kirpan holds.”
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Labels: Canada, Marie-Êve Marineau, Québec, Religion and fanaticism, Sikh
# posted by Francis Chartrand @ 3:54 PM 
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