Canada Begins Trial of Man Charged with Killing Muslim Family
Nathaniel Veltman, who is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder, pleaded not guilty to all the charges at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Windsor, local media reported.
The attack in London, a city about 200km (125 miles) west of Toronto, killed Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna, and Salman’s mother, Talat, 74, on June 6, 2021. The couple’s nine-year-old son survived with serious injuries.
Authorities said the family was “targeted because of their Islamic faith” and later charged Veltman with “terrorism” offences.
“We will be watching this trial closely,” the National Council of Canadian Muslims said in a statement on Monday.
“Justice should be served,” Shaukat Rizvi, a relative of the Afzaal family, told the Toronto Star newspaper before the trial. “We have confidence in the Canadian justice system.”
The incident shocked Muslim communities across Canada, who were still recovering from a deadly shooting at a Quebec City mosque in 2017 and a fatal stabbing at a Toronto mosque in 2020.
It also prompted the Canadian government to hold a national summit on Islamophobia, and to appoint its first special representative to address the issue in January 2021.
Amira Elghawaby, the special representative, said Tuesday would be “heavy for the relatives of the Afzasal family and their surviving son”, as well as Muslims in London and Canada.
“We will not forget: Talat, Madiha, Yumnah, Salman,” Elghawaby wrote on social media.
In June, the Ontario government announced it was investing about $372,000 (500,000 Canadian dollars) to help London develop an anti-hate public education campaign and an online library of resources.
London Mayor Josh Morgan said the investment would help “promote acceptance” in the city. “Not only must we speak out against hatred, we must also take decisive and tangible action – and that’s exactly what this funding allows us to do,” Morgan said.
Veltman’s trial in Windsor is expected to last 12 weeks, according to Canadian media.
“The trial will mark the first time since Canada passed its anti-terrorism laws that terrorism will be argued before a jury in a first-degree murder case,” the London Free Press reported on Tuesday.
Veltman’s lawyer, Christopher Hicks, said in 2021 that his client has the “presumption of innocence”.
“Every person, including Nathaniel Veltman, has the presumption of innocence. That’s very important,” Hicks said at the time.
Source: Agencies
