Two men charged with the 2018 beating and endangering of the father of two children in Mississauga were found guilty of aggravated assault but acquitted of attempted murder.
Janis Kolhamczyk and Adem Kolhamzic, who were previously charged with aggravating assault and attacking Mohammed Abu Marzouq, were found guilty in a judge-only trial in Brampton’s High Court on Tuesday. was also convicted of assaulting a friend of the victim who tried to intervene in the July 15, 2018 attack.
This attack changed Abu Marzouq’s family forever. He still has a large scar on the back of his head, a reminder of the incident that nearly ended his life.
A court heard Tuesday that the father of two children suffered 10 to 15 skull fractures and a brain hemorrhage similar to injuries seen in car accidents. Meanwhile, his attacker was heard yelling “f–king Arabs!, f–king terrorists!”
These comments are one of the reasons police considered the crime to be “hate-motivated.”
But Judge Fletcher Dawson said in his sentencing that he believed the attacks were “anti-Arab, not anti-Muslim.”
During the attack, Abu Marzouq’s four and six-year-old daughters were heard asking if their father had died and if they could see him, the court said. “Our dad is going to die soon,” I heard girls say from the van.
“This did not deter the accused,” said Dawson.
Still, Dawson said, “I can’t say I’m happy beyond a reasonable doubt about their intent to kill. That said, it was a close match.”
Officer testified that the assault was the ‘most gruesome’ he had seen
Abu Marzouk’s wife, Diana Attar, was seen shaking her head at the results.
In a statement Tuesday, Utter said the night of the attack, the family saw “the darkest side of humanity, something we don’t want anyone else to see.”
“We were doing normal things like any other family in Canada spending a beautiful summer night with friends at the local community center. “I was attacked,” she said.
“Today’s verdict brings some closure as we await the verdict. But we know the road to recovery is much longer,” she added in part.
WATCH | Victim’s wife EXCLUSIVELY tells CBC News in 2018:
Pir local police confirmed they were investigating the beating of Mohammed Abu Marzouq as a hate-based crime. I’m here.
The court heard that Abu Marzouq was repeatedly kicked in the head among witnesses who said it was an act fueled by hate.
“They seemed to be trying to kick the soccer ball as far as they could,” said one witness.
The court also heard from a police officer who testified that he remembered the incident like it was yesterday. claimed to be.
On a warm summer evening, July 15, 2022, Abu Marzouq and his family were driving home from a picnic at the Mississauga Community Center. As they were about to leave, the family says they were approached by two men shouting, “You didn’t see us.”
Police said at the time there was no evidence that anyone had been hit by a car prior to the attack.
When Abu Marzouk got out of the car to talk to the men, one of them punched him in the face. , Abu Marzouq pushed back after he was first assaulted.
“Don’t touch him. Don’t hurt my husband. I have two little girls. Please don’t hurt my husband,” Abu Marzouq’s wife Diana Attar previously told CBC News.
He spotted a police car nearby and ran for help. When she returned, her husband was lying on the ground, blood spilling out of his ears and pooling around his head.After a while, he lost consciousness and Ataa told him that Abu Marzouq I started chanting a prayer to survive.
‘Hateful’ incident has caused years of damage, says imam
Abu Marzouq was taken to a trauma center in Toronto where he underwent immediate surgery and was fitted with a breathing tube. Attar previously told CBC News that surgeons “removed part of his skull” to stop the bleeding.
Ibrahim Hindi, the imam of the Dar al-Tawheed Mosque, where both families pray, told reporters, “This kind of hateful event was not just in that moment, but over the years. It will have far-reaching implications,” he said.
Mr Hindy was pleased to have the judge acknowledge how “hateful” and “hateful” the attack was.
“I hope both of these things will be reflected in the sentencing, and that these families will eventually get some kind of closure and look like justice.
“Because there will never be perfect justice for what they have faced.”
Meanwhile, the Muslim National Council of Canada said the struggle faced by the two families “represents the hidden and unreported reality that Canada is suffering from Islamophobic attacks. The attacks have ended.” But the trauma doesn’t end,” he said.
The group says families are often grappling with physical, mental, social and economic hardships after such incidents and creates a national assistance fund for victims of hate-based crimes. I am asking the federal government to
Sentencing submissions for trial are scheduled to begin on March 31.
