Canada asked France extradite priest accused of sex assault in Nunavut

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Ottawa has requested France to extradite a priest accused of crimes in opposition to kids in Nunavut, the federal justice minister confirmed Wednesday as Pope Francis continued his tour of Canada.

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“Collaboration and co-operation are important to addressing the shameful legacy of residential faculties,” Justice Minister David Lametti stated in a written assertion.

“We’re working with Indigenous Peoples to advance the necessary work of reconciliation in Canada. I need to guarantee you that you will need to Canada and its worldwide companions that severe crimes be totally investigated and prosecuted,” he added.

A spokesman for the Justice Division stated the Public Prosecution Service of Canada made the extradition request for Johannes Rivoire, however didn’t say when and offered no extra particulars.

Pope Francis is anticipated to journey to Nunavut this week as a part of his go to to Canada, the place he apologized to survivors of residential faculties. They have been government-funded, church-operated establishments that Indigenous kids have been compelled to attend and the place 1000’s suffered abuse.

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Inuit leaders have referred to as on the pontiff to personally intervene within the case of Rivoire, who was in Canada from the early Nineteen Sixties till 1993, when he returned to France.

The Mounties stated Rivoire is needed on a Canada-wide warrant associated to a brand new sexual assault cost laid in February associated to an allegation of sexual assault in opposition to a feminine particular person.

The Nunavut RCMP has stated officers obtained the grievance final yr relating to sexual assaults alleged to have occurred about 47 years in the past.

Rivoire has beforehand averted trial for a number of allegations of sexual abuse linked to his time as a priest in Nunavut.

A warrant was additionally issued for his arrest in 1998, however the prices have been stayed in 2017. The Public Prosecution Service of Canada stated then it was partly attributable to France’s reluctance to extradite.

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In March, Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, stated he had requested the Pope throughout a gathering within the Vatican to talk with Rivoire immediately and ask him to go to Canada to face the brand new cost. Obed stated he additionally requested the Pope to request that France step in if Rivoire shouldn’t be receptive.

On Wednesday, the French Embassy confirmed that Canada’s judicial authorities had despatched an extradition request for Rivoire to France. The embassy stated the French Justice Ministry is at the moment processing the request and has requested Canadian officers for extra data.

Lametti didn’t offered extra particulars in regards to the extradition request, however famous in his assertion that it’s uncommon for him to remark even on whether or not one has been made.

“Extradition requests are considered confidential state-to-state communications, and as minister, I usually can not touch upon whether or not a specific extradition request has been made,” Lametti stated. “Nevertheless, I’m conscious of the very fact of an extradition request transmitted to France has been made public, which my departmental officers have now confirmed.”

Pope Francis is anticipated to go to Iqaluit on Friday, the final day of his go to to Canada.

— with information from Kelly Geraldine Malone