Vigil held to remember Soleiman Faqiri, who died in detention seven years ago
A vigil was held Saturday evening to mark the seventh anniversary of the death of Soleiman Faqiri, a mentally ill man who died in custody at an Ontario jail.
Gathering at Yonge-Dundas Square, family and friends held placards and spoke about their loved one, affectionately known as “Soli.”
Faqiri died on Dec. 15, 2016 at just 30 years old at the Lindsay Jail.
He had been arrested earlier that month for allegedly stabbing a neighbour while he was experiencing a mental health crisis.
His death followed a violent struggle with correctional officers as he was being escorted from the shower to a segregation cell.
Earlier this week, a coroner's inquest ruled Faqiri’s death a homicide and issued 57 recommendations on the delivery of health care in corrections, particularly around mental health.
Many staff at the facility voiced concerns about his deteriorating mental health, but Faqiri was not taken to hospital or seen by a psychiatrist, the inquiry heard
Speaking with CP24 at the vigil Saturday evening, Faqiri’s brother Yusuf talked about seeing some of the video evidence at the inquiry.
“When I saw my precious brother in that hallway video, that video I did see the first time — cold defenceless, you know, scared. I thought about like, you know what his last moments were like, you know, when he was dying,” he said, becoming emotional. “Like, you know, I noticed in the doctor's note, the doctor wrote that Soli he was asking for his mother, you know.”
Yusuf said he’s hopeful that his brother’s untimely death helps bring about real change.
“But when I look at all of that pain I see Soli smile, and I see that his life could be an opportunity for us to really build a legacy on his tragedy and essentially, hopefully, just hopefully, maybe, maybe we save other Solis around us and that's what it’s about. My brother was a man that was about giving and I really want to focus on that.”
The jurors' finding on the cause of death at the inquiry carries no legal liability and no charged have been laid in Faqiri’s death.
With files from The Canadian Press
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