On this episode of the Global News podcast What happened to…?, Erica Vella updates stories that were covered in Season 1 of the podcast, including the Quebec mosque shooting, Boko Haram and the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Quebec mosque shooting
In May, the Supreme Court of Canada said it would be reviewing the sentence of the man responsible for the Quebec mosque shooting.
Crown prosecutors asked the court to look at the case after the Quebec Court of Appeal declared the section of the Criminal Code allowing consecutive life sentences unconstitutional, lowering Alexandre Bissonnette’s parole eligibility to 25 years.
The court wrote in its decision that to set parole eligibility at 100 or more years “may give some people a sense of satisfaction,” but it is “grossly disproportionate” because it exceeds the person’s expected lifespan.
Kent Roach, a professor of law at the University of Toronto, said the superior court’s decision will be a precedent-setting one.
“It really depends on whether the court finds that the provision for stacking periods of ineligibility for parole is constitutional. If they find that it’s constitutional, then, yes, presumably the sentence would be increased to reflect the number of victims,” he said.
“The Supreme Court might do that itself or more typically, it sends it back to the trial judge for resentencing. But another alternative is that the court could find that the stacking of parole ineligibility 50, 75, 100 years constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”
In a statement, the Quebec City mosque where the shooting spree took place welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal.
“We welcome with relief the Supreme Court’s decision to accept the case presented by the Attorney General of Quebec and the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions,” the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre’s board said.
“We reiterate our confidence in our justice system and its players.”
Boko Haram
The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, has been reportedly killed.
Shekau took over the insurgency group in 2009, following the death of Mohammed Yusuf.
David Otto, a counter-terrorism and organized crime specialist, said while this isn’t the first time there have been reports of Shekau’s death, it is the first time members of the extremist group are confirming his death.
“Previous announcements were made by the state (and) that were made by the Nigerian military. Of course, it turned out not to be true and Abubakar Shekau had taunted the military that he was still alive,” he said.
“I think on that point, what needs to be significantly mentioned here is that this is the first time that the reports of the death of Abubakar Shekau is coming from an (internal) jihadist group.”
Fukushima nuclear crisis
Japan has chosen to treat and dump wastewater from the Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.
The country said it is the best solution for dealing with the contaminated leftovers from the Fukushima disaster, but environmental groups, fisheries and neighbouring countries are challenging the decision.
The radioactive water amounts to over 1.25 million tonnes, or enough to fill 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools. It’s been sitting in 1,000 storage tanks since 2011, when an earthquake and a tsunami in Fukushima shattered the Daiichi power plant and triggered a triple meltdown.
Japan says it was forced to make a decision because the tanks are a hazard and will not do as a long-term solution.
“On the premise of strict compliance with regulatory standards that have been established, we select oceanic release,” the government said in a news release. It adds that the water will be diluted and filtered for harmful isotopes before it is released into the ocean.
—With files from Kalina Laframboise and Josh K. Elliott
On this episode of Global News’ What happened to…?, Erica Vella revisits the stories to find out what has happened since.
Contact:
Email: erica.vella@globalnews.ca
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