Family demands answers after man slated for release beaten to death in Quebec jail

Ali Hijazi is demanding answers after his brother was beaten to death at Montreal's Rivière-des-Prairies detention centre last week.

"He called us last Tuesday, saying he'd be home soon," Ali Hijazi recounted. "Instead of welcoming him with a meal, they brought him back in a body bag. It makes no sense."

On behalf of his family, Hijazi is calling for transparency in the ongoing police investigation into the death of his brother, Mahdi Hijazi.

Mahdi, 32, had a criminal history involving arson and drug possession. He was back in custody after a March 28 arrest related to extortion and loan sharking, but his lawyer, Danièle Roy, said he was close to being released due to insufficient evidence for the extortion charge.

"I had an agreement for him to be released on Friday once he pleaded guilty to the usurious lending charge," Roy explained.

However, the day before his death on September 10, Mahdi called his family in distress, informing them that he was being transferred to a maximum-security section of the prison without understanding why. Roy confirmed the transfer but found it puzzling, given that he was 48 hours from release and had no charges requiring such a high-security move.

"In my 44 years of practice, I've never seen an inmate on the verge of release sent to maximum security," Roy said.

Provincial police, who are leading the investigation, have not provided details, and Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel's office has also declined to comment.

Mathieu Lavoie, president of the guards' union, stated that decisions about security transfers are based on inmate behavior, which can change quickly. However, Roy questioned how Mahdi could have been killed in a high-security area, where there is usually more surveillance.

"Killing someone makes noise. He must have screamed. He likely didn’t die instantly," she said.

Lavoie mentioned that maximum-security inmates often have access to their cells and common areas, and the majority of cells are shared. He also noted that the prison, built 30 years ago, lacks modern surveillance technology.

Ali Hijazi stressed that his brother deserved a second chance, having made progress toward rehabilitation. "In Quebec, we believe in rehabilitation," Ali said. "My brother had completed a course as a car estimator, had his own apartment, and was paying all his bills. Everything was in order."

While acknowledging his brother’s troubled past, Ali emphasized, "That doesn't mean he deserved to die."

He is calling for transparency, wanting to understand not just who was responsible for the murder, but why his brother was transferred. "If it happened to my brother, it could happen to anyone," he said.

According to Quebec's Ministry of Public Security, there was one murder in provincial jails in both 2020-2021 and 2021-2022. A report from the Université du Québec à Montréal's Observatoire des profilages noted no murders in Quebec jails from 2011 to 2020. Last July, a 27-year-old inmate died after being attacked with a weapon at the same detention centre.

Lavoie added that there has been a recent rise in violence among inmates from different groups.