Harun Nasrullah
A Canadian court has found two men guilty of assaulting a Muslim father “within an inch of his life” in an attack his wife described as demonstrating the “darkest side of humanity.”
Brothers Janis Corhamzic and Adem Corhamzic, who were previously charged with aggravated assault and assault in the attack, were found guilty at a judge-alone trial in Superior Court in Brampton on January 31.
The pair were also convicted of the assault on Fuat Yucel, a friend of the victim who tried to intervene. Mohammed Abu Marzouk was the victim of an unprovoked “anti-Arab” attack in July 2018, which left the father of two with 10-15 skull fractures and an acute brain haemorrhage.
Abu Marzouk, 39, his wife Diana Attar, and their two daughters, ages four and six, were on their way home from a picnic in Mississauga, a large city neighbouring Toronto on Lake Ontario. When two men approached the vehicle, Abu Marzouk got out to speak with them.
They indicated they had been hit or were about to be hit by the vehicle. Abu Marzouk’s daughters watched from inside the van as one of the men struck him in the face, yelling, “F–king Arabs, f–king terrorists.”
As they hurled anti-Arab slurs, his wife begged them to stop. She then noticed a police car and ran for help. When she returned, her husband had fallen to the ground, blood spilling from his ear and pooling around his head. Moments later, he lost consciousness, and Attar began reciting prayers that her husband would survive.
The court also heard from a police officer, who testified he remembered the incident like it was yesterday.
Even four and a half years after the incident, he maintained it was “the most gruesome event” he’d ever witnessed.
That officer also testified he drew his firearm because he thought the kicking “might kill” Abu Marzouk and the attackers did not listen to his instruction to “get on the ground.”
The court heard Abu Marzouk was repeatedly kicked in the head in what one witness described as a hateful act.
“It was like they were trying to kick a soccer ball as far as they could,” the court heard from one witness.
Taking those words into consideration, Superior Court Justice Fletcher Dawson characterized the assault as “anti-Arab, not anti-Muslim.”
In a statement, Attar said the family witnessed “the darkest side of humanity, one that we would not wish upon anyone” on the night of the attack.
“Today’s verdict offers some closure as we await sentencing. “But we know we have a much longer road to recovery,” she added in part. The family has faced emotional, physical, and financial hardship as a result of the attack, and Canada should do more to help victims, an official with the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said in a statement.
“We need to change this pattern of neglect and hardship for survivors of such attacks,” said NCCM Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Nadia Hasan.
“These survivors deserve help, yet as a country, we have not done enough.” The NCCM called for a National Support Fund for Victims of Hate-Motivated Crimes to be established by the federal government. A sentencing hearing for the two men, who are brothers, will begin on March 31.
Photo: Muhammed Abu Marzouk in the intensive care unit with serious head and body injuries, including “multiple fractures” and a “huge brain haemorrhage” (Courtesy of LaunchGood)
