QUEBEC CITY -- Premier François Legault is saying no to the opposition's call for the Bureau of Independent Investigators (BEI) to intervene in the brutal police action against a young Black man in Quebec City on Saturday.
In a news conference Tuesday at noon, Legault said he trusts the internal investigation of the Quebec City police and that of the Police Ethics Commissioner.
"If necessary, I am ready to go further, but what I want to say to the people of Quebec City, among others, is that we will get to the bottom of things," he said.
- READ: Five Quebec City police officers suspended after video of violent intervention with Black teens
According to the opposition parties, though, the Police Ethics Commissioner's investigation is not enough.
Pacifique Niyokwizera was violently restrained by Quebec City police officers on Saturday night as he left a bar. The images captured by telephone have been circulated widely.
The Legault government has asked the Police Ethics Commissioner to investigate, but the Parti Québécois (PQ), Québec Solidaire (QS) and the Liberal Party (PLQ) are all calling for a BEI investigation.
According to PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, it would be much more transparent and independent if the BEI could conduct its own investigation.
- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 30, 2021.
