Jonathan Bettez, notably accompanied by his mother, sues the Sûreté du Québec and the prosecutor general of Quebec for 10 million dollars.
The other aspect contested by the Bettez family concerned requests filed by Sûreté du Québec lawyers so that the trial is not fully made public.
We are asking for closed doors, we are asking for procedures ex parte, we are asking for publication bans, underlined Monday Mr. Héroux who demands, like his clients, that everything be public in order to allow the public to form their own opinion.
Jonathan Bettez must testify at the trial .
The Attorney General and the Sûreté du Québec oppose the publication of the debates and evidence , because the perpetrator of the kidnapping and murder is still at large and the publication of this sensitive information could benefit him. Since Jonathan Bettez had not yet been excluded from the list of suspects, the police did not want to give him this advantage either.
Jonathan Bettez, who has never been charged in connection with the disappearance of Cédrika Provencher, was arrested by the SQ in August 2016 , the same day the girl would have turned 19, to face charges of possessing and distributing child pornography. He was subsequently acquitted of all 10 charges against him.
The police team had also conducted searches at Emballages Bettez, his parents' company.
In October 2018, the Judge Jacques Lacoursière had severely criticized the work of the SQ investigators in this case. He described their actions as a fishing operation. The police actions were, according to him, abusive and the warrants invalid, he concluded.
Stéphane Bordeleau (Consult the profile)Stéphane BordeleauFollow
Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116