The family of a mentally ill man who died in jail after an altercation with guards demanded justice Saturday during a demonstration at OPP General Headquarters in Orillia.
Soleiman Faqiri, 30, suffered from schizophrenia. After allegedly stabbing a neighbour, he was taken to the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay while awaiting hospitalization at a mental health facility.
On Dec. 15, 2016, while being moved to segregation, he resisted. After an altercation that included pepper spray being used on him, he was found unresponsive on the floor.
His brother, Yusuf Faqiri, said a spit hood was placed over Soleiman’s head and he was left face down on the floor with his hands cuffed behind his back.
Despite the coroner’s report noting multiple signs of blunt trauma, the OPP recently decided to not charge any of the guards involved.
“For more than three-and-a-half years, my family waited, waited, waited and waited and gave our faith to our justice system,” Yusuf said Saturday, “and then, four weeks ago, the Ontario Provincial Police broke our hearts once again, as if Soleiman wasn’t already dead, as if Soleiman’s violent end wasn’t already enough for my family.”
It’s a decision that has been slammed by many organizations, including the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Canadian Alliance on Race and Disability, and the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies.
“The OPP has been humiliated. Their decision has been outright rejected not just by the Faqiri family or by my mother or by me, but more than 70 Canadian organizations have issued statements effectively rejecting the OPP’s decision,” Yusuf said. “What does that say, ladies and gentlemen? Simply, it says the OPP failed. Simply, it says that the OPP did not do their job. They’ve effectively articulated to the Faqiri family and to every Canadian walking across this land, if you want to kill someone, do it in a group.
“We cannot press charges because we do not know who gave the fatal blow?" he continued. “Yet, they don’t deny this was a beating. They called the eyewitness credible. It’s as if there are different standards for law enforcement and the rest of us in Canada. What a preposterous and absurd statement.”
Mustafa Farooq, CEO of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, shared the family’s outrage when he spoke at Saturday’s “Justice for Soli Rally.”
“What has happened here has demonstrated a clear lack of (a) transparent and accountable process. Officers who collectively beat a mentally ill man to death don’t deserve to be protected because they beat him to death together. It’s that simple,” he said.
Farooq called out OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique directly, saying he has “failed this province.”
“There were any number of choices, and yet you made the only incredibly wrong choice that could be made,” he said. “You made the choice to stand by a bizarre and unintelligible decision to not charge. It is shameful. It is disgraceful that this decision was issued by the OPP.”
Farooq also criticized the OPP for not allowing the family members to rally closer to the building, instead telling them they had to demonstrate near the sidewalk.
“That’s something that we will not forget,” he said. “I’m not here today seeking justice. Clearly, these are the wrong doors, these are the wrong halls to seek justice at. I’m here with all of you to mark the spot for history and for our children. I’m here because when people look back at this day, they will look back at how the people of this province ... the family of Soleiman, all of you here today who drove for hours to come, you did not stand by and let this go softly and gently into the night.”
Farooq wrapped up his speech by saying, “Soleiman, we still love you, we will not forget you, and, as we are taught, God does not love those who cover the truth.”
Hossai Furmli, a doctor who regularly sees the prevalence of mental illness in her work, spoke during the rally and called on the OPP to reconsider its decision to not lay charges.
“The case of Soleiman Faqiri and those who have suffered similar fates at the hands of the criminal justice system demonstrates that we have failed a group of individuals who have the same right to life, liberty and health care as you and I but that instead received neglect,” she said.
Rahima Ahmed, a friend of the family, is involved with the Justice for Soli movement. She called the absence of charges “a gross miscarriage of justice.”
“The OPP has failed to deliver justice because they did not have the courage or the integrity to do what’s right,” she said. “The Faqiri family’s hearts were broken, but here we are today, in front of the OPP headquarters, to send a message that we will not stop our fight until we receive justice for Soli.”
Yusuf echoed that statement.
“I promise you this: Commissioner Carrique, Attorney General Douglas Downey, we will continue to fight,” he said. “And, to the guards who killed Soleiman Faqiri, you have a conscience. You took their mom’s son from her. You took our Solieman. But, you have a conscience.”
The rally was an attempt to raise awareness not only about Soleiman Faqiri, but also others with mental illness who have died while dealing with the justice system.
Jordan Sheard, a former Orillia resident, also died at the Lindsay jail. His mother, Angela Vos, said Sheard, 26, had a large quantity of heroin hidden in his body. She said he died of an overdose in jail, where he was sent after threatening to kill himself.
“Jordan should never have been in jail,” Vos said. “We just asked for a mental health officer, a wellness check, because he was trying to kill himself. We’d like to see mental health taken care of instead of locking them in a cell.”
She and her husband, Glen Vos, attended Saturday’s rally in a show of solidarity.
“We want to come together in unity in our grief to change things,” she said. “We can’t bring our loved ones back from the dead, but we can change things for the future.”
