A convicted mass murderer serving life for fatally shooting Muslim worshippers at a Canadian mosque is demanding a transfer to a lower-security prison, claiming the conditions violated his constitutional rights, according to a report on Thursday.
Alexandre Bissonnette carried out one of Canada’s deadliest acts of Islamophobic violence in 2017, when he opened fire inside the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City, killing six and wounding 19 others.
CBC News said Bissonnette’s lawyer, Sylvie Bordelais, filed a petition earlier this week claiming that psychological assessments support moving him to a medium-security facility, and that public outrage alone is keeping him at maximum security.
The report cited a 2025 psychological report in the petition, which argued that the maximum-security environment was “very difficult for him, notably due to the mediatisation of his offence, which generated intimidation and violence on the part of other inmates.”
The petition also claims his continued placement constitutes cruel and unusual treatment under Canada’s Charter of Rights.
“Forcing an individual whose mental health is fragile to live in a place where some inmates have nothing to lose and can make a name for themselves by assassinating him is not part of the correctional services’ mandate,” stated the document.
Bissonnette approached the mosque on January 29, 2017, as evening prayers ended. Attempting to unleash a barrage of bullets using a semi-automatic .223 rifle that fortunately jammed, he grabbed his 9-mm semi-automatic Glock handgun.
His deadly rampage ended in less than two minutes. It remains the worst shooting in a religious setting in Canadian history. – AA