Court of Canada (illustration). Canadian court calls attack on Muslims an anti-Arab attack
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, ONTARIO – The Supreme Court of Ontario (Canada) has found two men guilty of assaulting a Muslim man who was returning home from a picnic with his family.
The court refused to recognize the criminal act as an anti-Muslim hate crime but rather an anti-Arab attack.
As reported Daily Sabah on (1/2/2023) the victim named Mohammed Abu Marzouk (39 years old) with his family namely his wife and two daughters aged four and six were in their vehicle and were returning home after a picnic near a community center in Mississauga, just outside Toronto. On the way home, two men passed by shouting obscenities calling them “terrorists”.
The two men then kicked the car, causing Marzouk to come out and attack him. His wife Diana Attar pleaded with the two assailants to stop attacking her husband, she then saw a police car and ran towards it for help. When she returned, her husband was lying on the ground and bleeding profusely from his ear.
Marzouk was rushed to a trauma center in Toronto. He was operated on because he suffered from a cerebral hemorrhage and several broken bones from the beatings. The unprovoked attack left the father of two with 10 to 15 skull fractures.
At first, police interpreted the incident as the result of street rage, but after further investigation, authorities on Tuesday evening escalated the incident into a hate crime.
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During the attack, the two men were heard insulting and cursing the Arabs. Apparently, with those words in mind, Supreme Court Justice Fletcher Dawson called the attack anti-Arab, not anti-Muslim.
Meanwhile, the Marzouk family faced emotional, physical and financial hardship as a result of the attack.
An official from the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) has urged the Canadian government to do more to help the victims.
“We need to change the pattern of neglect and hardship for survivors of this type of attack. These survivors deserve help, but as a country we have not done enough,” said Dr Nadia Hasan.
Meanwhile, the sentencing hearing for the two men who are brothers will begin on March 31.
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