OPP InVEstigation
Following the revelation that the Kawartha Lakes Police Service had failed to interview a key eyewitness, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) announced in January 2019 that they were reopening the investigation into Soleiman’s death.
In August 2020, the OPP announced that it was not pressing charges against the guards who killed Soli. The OPP claimed they could not lay charges because they did not know specifically which of the guards put their knee on Soleiman’s neck, which of the guards put the spit hood on his head, or which of the guards delivered the fatal blow.
According to Faqiri family lawyer, Nader Hasan, “The message the OPP is sending to the world here is that if you’re going to murder someone, do it in a group.”
Renowned Canadian defence lawyer Clayton Ruby responded that charges are routinely laid in group assaults in Canada: “They all wind up being parties to the offence…and subject, therefore, to exactly the same penalty, each one, even if they never struck the blow. This is pretty elementary.”
Although it was supposed to be an independent investigation, the OPP was following the advice of the Crown attorney in Lindsay when they made their decision. The Crown attorney had told the OPP that they should not press charges because the case would be “unwinnable.” This was the same crown attorney who, nearly 3 years earlier, had told the Kawartha Lakes Police Service not to press charges.