Family of man who died after police intervention calls on Quebec Justice Ministry to open independent review

The family of Koray Kevin Celik, who died following an altercation with police in 2017, is demanding the Quebec government step in and reconsider the evidence in their son's death.

On Monday morning, the Celiks called for the Justice Ministry to order an independent review of the facts of the case, following the decision by Quebec's Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) to not charge the officers involved in the 28-year-old's death.

On the night their son died, in March 2017, the Celiks called 911 to their L'Île Bizard home because their son had consumed alcohol along with pain pills prescribed to him and was intent on taking the wheel.

According to the coroner's report released in April, one of the officers struck Koray in the thigh with a flashlight following a verbal argument with him. Then three other officers tackled him to the ground. The report also concluded poor planning and execution on the part of Montreal police officers played a "determining role" in Celik's death.

Alexandre Popovic, a spokesperson for the Coalition Against Police Repression and Police Abuse, said the coroner's findings align with the police ethics committee's order in 2020 to cite the four officers involved for using excessive force.

Celik's parents have maintained that officers used excessive force on their son — an allegation the DPCP denies, ruling in favour of the officers in 2019.

Koray Celik was pronounced dead in hospital about three hours later. The final autopsy report listed cardio-respiratory arrest caused by intoxication as the cause of death.

Cesur Celik, Koray's father, said his family's confidence in Quebec justice system is "sinking faster than the Titanic '' due to a "lack of neutrality, independence and impartiality" on the part of investigators and the Justice Ministry.

In May, the family wrote a letter to the office of Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, asking for him to order an independent committee to review the facts of the case, but the Celiks say they received a "dismissive" response denying the request.

The family's lawyer, Virginie Dufresne-Lemire, called the investigators' decision not to hear testimony from the parents an "unexplained departure" from their usual practice.

Dufresne-Lemire also took issue with the Justice Ministry's stance that it could not intervene in the case.

She said Quebec laws allow provisions for such committees — as in the case of Nicolas Thorne-Belance, a five-year old who was killed by a speeding Sûreté du Québec officer in 2014.

The Crown at first refused to charge the officer, but after an independent review of the evidence by an ad hoc prosecutor in 2018, the SQ officer was charged and eventually found guilty.

In an email, the DPCP told CBC it carried out a complete and objective examination of the evidence gathered by police forces in the Celik case and concluded there were no grounds for prosecution. 

It also said the recent coroner's inquest did not bring to light any new facts that could call into question their prosecutor's decision.

According to the family, the province's police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), showed bias in its investigation by not listening to their testimony and publishing a news release recounting the police's version of events.

"My wife and I were direct witnesses to our son's killing. Despite that, our account wasn't taken into consideration by the authorities, including the BEI and the DPCP… We were not believed by the investigators of the province, but the police were," he said.

Sitting beside the Celiks, Laurence Guénette, co-ordinator for the Ligue des droits et libertés, a Quebec civil rights group, called for a change in oversight in cases where police conduct is under review.

"We need to put an end to the system of police investigating police. We need to put in place a system that is independent, fair and transparent," said Guénette.

In separate statements, the BEI and the Justice Ministry said they would not comment on the case, since the investigators are currently appealing a civil lawsuit that the family launched.