The Surete du Québec (SQ) on Friday responded to the $10 million civil lawsuit brought by Jonathan Bettez, who provincial police have long considered a prime suspect in the murder of Cédrika Provencher.
• Also read: Cédrika, 15 years later: The hope of payment remains
• Also read: Jonathan Bettez and his family are being questioned in their $10 million lawsuit against the SQ
Jonathan Bettez criticizes the Sûreté du Québec for doing everything to convince the population that he is a murderer and a pedophile.
However, in a document filed with Montreal court last Friday, SQ attorneys indicate they believe there is no ground for prosecution. They are asking the court to deny the Bettez family’s motion.
The lawyers assure that his right to the presumption of innocence has not been violated. “The presumption of innocence cannot be disregarded without charge,” reads an excerpt from the court document.
Therefore, after several interrogations, the SQ’s lawyers are preparing a written defense at the request of the Bettez family. “We will dispute several claims and we will argue that there was no fault, there is certainly no causal link and there is no cause for these damages. He was not charged, although he was always the first target,” said retired judge Nicole Gibeault.
- Listen to the court report with Félix Séguin live daily at 8:35 a.m. via QUB radio :
Jonathan Bettez also accuses the police of conducting illegal searches, seizures and searches based on misleading information. He was arrested in 2016 and later acquitted of all child pornography charges.
The SQ replies that the police were not at fault. “The defendants had every right to start a new investigation on the basis of a hunch. The future has also shown that these intuitions were valid,” the document says.
“Apparently, the Quebec court had a harsh decision closing the case because we conducted abusive searches. […] They don’t seize property unless you have a search warrant. We can go there intuitively, but we have to hone our intuition as a police officer until we find reasons,” says Ms. Gibeault.
The lawyers also consider the claims for damages of more than 10 million dollars demanded by the Bettez family to be “excessively exaggerated”. It is reported that there is no evidence that the police deliberately intended to harm Jonathan Bettez and that they could not foresee all the consequences claimed by the family, such as the possible sale of the Bettez packaging business.
As for his right to remain silent, it is reiterated that Jonathan Bettez has never waived it. The document also states that investigators have always respected his choice, proving that he never passed the lie detector test.