Sept 26 - News + Opinion: Sharif Rahman Case Updates Long Overdue

Plus: Why don't we have more public washrooms in Owen Sound? Councilor Jon Farmer brings the question to City staff.

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EDITORIAL

It’s been six weeks since police announced they had made arrests in the fatal assault of Sharif Rahman, an Owen Sound community member and businessman who was attacked on August 17, 2023, at his restaurant.

Police have only said an undisclosed number of “arrests were made” on July 30, 2024. We are no closer to knowing who was responsible, how many of those involved are being held to account, or even what charges they face.

Citizens have been exceedingly accommodating of law enforcement's requests for patience. However, we live in a country with a criminal justice system based on the open court principle.

This principle requires that court proceedings be open to the public and that publicity regarding those proceedings be uninhibited, except in a limited number of exceptions.

According to our own federal government, “Open court is a venerated ideal of justice in common law systems, and a principle that is regarded as indispensable.”

A case being described as “complex” is no reason to circumvent the open court principle and withhold the identities of those responsible for taking a man’s life in the street.

In Canada, justice is not done until it is seen to be done.

Again, as our federal government states, “No less than the legitimacy of criminal justices depends on it; the fairness of criminal process and public confidence in the system are at stake.”

It’s time for whichever law enforcement agency is driving the ban on information in the case of Sharif Rahman’s fatal assault to show the public in real terms that justice is, in fact, being done.

Nearly two months have passed since the arrests. At this point, the citizens of Owen Sound and, more broadly, of Canada as a whole deserve to know who has been arrested and under what charges.

A real explanation of why that information is being withheld is now long overdue. “It’s complex” doesn’t cut it.

Related:

Arrests Made in Fatal Assault of Sharif Rahman in Owen Sound

What Happened to Sharif Rahman?

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~ Miranda

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