It appears some family members are facing a backlash for testifying against Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya, and their son Hamed.
Latif Hyderi, a key witness in the case that garnered worldwide attention – and Yahya’s uncle – says he and his family have been shunned and even threatened by some members of Montreal’s Afghan community.
While the judge described the killings as being motivated by the Shafias’ “twisted concept of honour,” Hyderi says the community has told him he should not have revealed what were private matters.
He, however, has no regrets.
“I’m speaking the truth,” Hyderi says. “I will never be afraid to speak the truth… Even if someone kills.”
Hyderi’s son Reza was also threatened. “It wasn’t only him. I got threats over the phone from a very close family.”
The Hyderis say last month, as they left their mosque, they found family members around their car in the parking lot, which had been vandalized.
Shafia, his wife Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son Hamed, were convicted Sunday of four counts each of first-degree murder.
They were found guilty of killing Shafia’s daughters Zainab, 19, Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, and his first wife in a polygamous marriage, Rona Amir Mohammad, 52. The victims’ bodies were found June 30, 2009, in a car at the bottom of a canal in Kingston, Ont.
Now Shafia, 58, and his son Hamed, 21, have filed an inmate notice of appeal, which is the first step in the process toward filing a full appeal at a later date.
Both Shafias’ notices of appeal raise the same three grounds on which they’re seeking to appeal, including evidence from an expert on so-called honour killings.
“The trial judge erred in admitting the evidence of Dr. (Shahrzad) Mojab as an expert with respect to honour killings,” Shafia writes on his notice.
Latif Hyderi says Mohammad Shafia got what he deserves, but thinks Yahya and Hamed were “brainwashed.” Shafia manipulated his wife and their son into helping to commit the murders, according to Hyderi.
Shafia is not fluent in English and it’s not clear if the handwriting on the notice of appeal is his, or if he had help in filling out the forms. The documents filed by both father and son indicate they have not yet been moved from Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee, Ont., to a federal prison following their convictions.
Shafia and his son indicate they also believe trial Judge Robert Maranger erred in admitting hearsay evidence “of the four deceased women.”
The trial heard from numerous police, child protection and school officials who testified the girls told them about family tensions and their fears. Relatives of Rona testified she had told them she overheard Shafia talking about plans to kill Zainab and “the other one,” and she feared that was her.
Shafia and Hamed also raise an issue with Maranger’s charge to the jury. They believe he erred in characterizing the original story all three told police as post-offence conduct.
Shafia, Yahya and Hamed told police that Zainab took the car keys and must have taken the other three for a joy ride in which they accidentally plunged into the canal. The Crown alleged it was a story the three had concocted to deflect suspicion from them.
Yahya has not yet filed an inmate notice of appeal, but she had 30 days from the date of conviction to do so. On the day of the verdicts Hamed’s lawyer, Patrick McCann, indicated he believed all three would
Meanwhile, speaking through his son as a translator, Hyderi says everyone should remember the victims. “Just close your eyes for a moment and think about…that moment when (the victims) found out they were going to be killed by their father, mother and brother.”
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