Canada: With the rise in Islamophobia across the globe mainly in western and eastern countries, the prosecution appearing for spree killer who killed six people at the Quebec City mosque last year demands the convict should spend the rest of his life in prison.
The prosecution Thomas Jacques appearing in the case told Justice Francois Huot that the 28-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette who murdered six people, should be sentenced to a total 150 years, 25 years for each victim in the last year’s shooting spree at the mosque on Jan. 29, 2017, Middle East Monitor reported.
“This unprecedented crime merits a punishment that reflects its horrible implications,” Jacques said in a Quebec City courtroom.
The defense, however, argued that Alexander’s term sentence should be limited to 25 years and that he should spend 25 years in prison before he becomes eligible for parole.
If the court allows prosecution’s sentence plea this punishment would stand as the longest sentence given since Canada put an end to death penalty in the 1960s.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) urged its supporters to call for the sentencing to be consecutive, that is 25 years each for one innocent life totaling it to 50 years in prison.
NCCM executive director Ihsaan Gardee said: “(W)hat it could do is set a strong precedent that violent acts of Islamophobia and other forms of anti-religious or racial hatred will be dealt with using the full force of the law,” and “It’s imperative our communities speak out to apply pressure in this regard.”
He also asked the supports to pen down letters to their local newspaper urging the same, along with calling in signatures on a letter “urging the government to designate January 29th as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia”.