A Parole Board of Canada panel has agreed that Hamed Shafia, now 34 and serving a life sentence for his role in those killings, can have a brief escorted visit to a minimum-security facility.
What the Board Decided
The panel agreed Shafia should be allowed the brief visit but rejected a second request: an escorted absence to visit a mosque in Kingston, Ontario. Panel member Mike Bossio told Shafia during the hearing that he has made a lot of progress and gained insight into his past behaviour, but said more work is needed and that a gradual approach is the right one. Shafia was pressed during the hearing about his beliefs and his relationships with his surviving family members as he sought the two temporary absences.
The 2009 Rideau Canal Deaths
Shafia and his parents were found guilty in January 2012 of four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his three teenage sisters and his father's first wife in a polygamous marriage. First-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence in Canada with no chance of parole for 25 years.
"A Twisted Concept of Honour"
The trial judge who handed down the convictions described the killings as being motivated by the Shafia family's "twisted concept of honour."
What Happens Next
The approved absence is limited to a brief, escorted visit to a minimum-security facility, not a return to the community. The rejected mosque visit suggests the board still has reservations about how much supervision Shafia needs outside a secure setting, even as it credited him with genuine progress. Given the 25-year parole ineligibility tied to his first-degree murder convictions, Shafia remains a long way from full parole, and any further requests for temporary absences will likely go through the same case-by-case scrutiny the board applied this time.
Sources: CP24, Medicine Hat News, Global News
