The crown opposed Wednesday at the release of the three men accused of having transported 44 migrants to a cube truck near the border last weekend. The survey on release of the three alleged passenger was postponed at the end of the month.
“It’s really frustrating since we have been arrested. Our families do not know where we are, “complained, one of the accused, Firat Yuksek, Wednesday morning during a hearing at the Sherbrooke courthouse. As with his two companions, his words were translated by an English-Turkish interpreter.
Montrealers Ogulcan Mersin, 25, Dogan Alakus, 31, and Firat Yuksek, 31, face two charges under the Immigration Act and the Customs Act for having facilitated the entry of people elsewhere than to a designated customs office.
During the night from Saturday to Sunday, a cube truck without ventilation was discovered by the Royal Canada Gendarmerie near Stanstead, a city stuck on the American border in the Eastern Cantons. Inside, 44 people were piled up, including children. The vast majority of people intercepted were of Haitian origin.
“It was a horror scene. […] The majority could not sit. People were piled up, dehydrated, it was stifling, and the lack of air inside the truck was striking. It could have ended very badly, ”said The press Sergeant Charles Poirier, from the RCMP.
The prosecutor of the Federal Crown, Me Annabelle Racine, announced in court on Wednesday her intention to oppose the release of the three accused on the three reasons provided for in the criminal code: risk of flight, danger to the public and public confidence in the justice system.
The defense lawyer, Me Jonathan Poirier, obtained the postponement of the survey on release to August 28 in order to have time to prepare a “good exit plan” for the three men. The federal crown must also give new evidence to the defense.
When judge Hélène Fabi ordered the three accused not to communicate with a certain person, one of the accused said that this person was “in the vehicle” with them. The defense lawyer then invited his client not to talk about the facts in the courtroom.
