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Thursday, July 22, 2004
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JUSTICE FOR CECILIA
As I write this, Toronto and Peel Regional police are holding a press conference announcing an arrest in the kidnapping and murder of 9 year old Cecilia Zhang. Cecilia was abducted from her North Toronto home, less than a mile from where I live, in the early morning hours of last October 19. The disappearence sparked an international search, involving police forces across Canada, the United States and the People's Republic of China that lasted for 5 months until the discovery of her body in Mississauga, some 15 miles away from her home. Cecilia was found March 27 of this year, two days before what would have been her tenth birthday.
Cecilia's parents are models of how a parent in those circumstances should conduct themselves. Though their English is far from perfect, they were always eloquent in their pleas for any assistence in finding their daughter. When their daughter's remains were found, they realeased a heartbreaking statement and held a birthday party for their little girl. Cecilia would have been very, very proud of her parents.
Charged is Min Chen, 21, of Shanghai, China. Min has been in Canada since 2001 on a student visa, although it is unclear if he ever attended school in the Toronto area. Peel Regional Police chief, Noel Catney has described him as "the most dispicable of criminals. This is a child murderer" as he held up the mugshot of Min.
Assuming that Min is convicted in Cecilia's murder, what should happen to him? The Criminal Code of Canada is amazingly lax in sentencing. We have no death penalty, nor do I support one without an overhaul of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which allows for multiple trials of an accused, even in the event of a jury acquittal. The harshest sentence allowable under Canadian law is life without the possibility of parole for 25 years. It is only in the rarest of circumstances that an offender does more than 25 years. In 25 years, Min Chen will only be 46 years old.
There is, however, a way around this. Min is a foreign national, in Canada on a visa that he violated by not attending school. Immediately upon conviction for first degree murder, Min could be deported back to China. The People's Republic of China's justice system takes a very different view of people like Min than does Canada. In China, those convicted of what Min is charged with are dealt with quickly and with maximum efficency. This is accomplished by a single gunshot to the back of the offender's neck, severing his spinal cord and airway, resulting in immediate death. The condemed's family then recieves a bill from the state for the cost of the bullet.
Min Chen, if he is indeed guilty of the murder of Cecilia Zhang, deserves no less. People in Chen's circumstances are placed in heavy segregation in Canadian prison as to thrwart prison justice being meted out. My understanding is that it is a comfortable existence, all things being equal. Unless and until Canada gets truly serious about dealing with people like this, it is far better to let their native countries do so where possible.
Unfortunately, this will never happen. Canada is an extremely liberal society. Canadian law prohibits extradition of suspects to nations where the face the death penalty without the concurrance of the federal Minister of Justice, which, to my knowledge has only happened once.
Min Chen, assuming his guilt, will spend a very comfortable period in prison and someday very soon be released back into society. This for a man who took the life - and God knows what else - of a little girl, tore a family apart and broke the heart of a city of three million people. Canadian justice will operate in exactly the same way after Min's trial as it did before.
The memory of Cecilia Zhang deserves far, far better than what the people of Canada are prepared to give it.
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