“Your darkness in hiding such a horrific, barbaric crime was exposed by God,”
Awad Ahamed Ashareh father of Yasmin Ashareh felt relief after a jury convicted the “monster” who raped and killed his 20- year-old daughter of first-degree murder. William Imona Russel,as he got 25 years jail sentence for raping and murdering a Canadian lady, Yasmin Ashareh, 20, in July 2006. Before then, Imona Russel, who travelled to Canada in 2003, had been fighting legal battles for asylum.
Immigrant Post learnt that the allegation evoked a deep sense of betrayal and anger at the Canadian immigration and justice system.
According to Toronto Sun, the murder occurred after Imona was ordered deported as a failed refugee claimant and while he was on bail for two rapes against a former girlfriend in March 2005. He is still appealing on compassionate and humanitarian grounds.
Imona-Russel barely worked since arriving in April 2003, collected a disability pension and cost taxpayers more than $2 million fighting various criminal charges. He ruined one woman's life and murdered Ashareh.
The contrast between Imona-Russel and the victim and her family is strikingly stark.
Yasmin Ashareh helped the poor as a volunteer and dreamed of helping the less fortunate as a social worker. Her family escaped from war-torn Somalia and has been model immigrants. Her mother Asha Ashareh had two jobs and worked seven days a week to support her family, putting her four children through university.
One is as an accountant, another a critical care nurse and her youngest son is a university student.
Yasmin had planned to study social work that fall at Sheridan College and was renting a room across the hall from Imona-Russel.
“This system betrayed Yasmin, a Canadian citizen who on the day she was raped and murdered worked eight hours to pay tax to a system that was providing HIV medication and disability pension to her killer,” said Yasmin sister Suad in a touching statement.
“ Good job,” shouted Yasmin's mother, Asha Ashareh and said thanks to the Jurry and the system .
Before the sentencing the victim’s mother hugged seven members of the jury, who convicted Imona-Russel of first-degree murder.
Imona-Russel initially denied knowing Ashareh, who had moved into his Rexdale rooming-house only two days before her murder.
At trial, he testified they had consensual sex but he snapped in an alcohol-fuelled rage and killed her by stabbing her repeatedly with scissors. Yasmin's sister Suad said Imona-Russel placed Yasmin's body inside a hockey bag at a garbage pick-up site to evade responsibility for his heinous crime.
“Your darkness in hiding such a horrific, barbaric crime was exposed by God,” said Suad. “It was no accident for my sister's body to be stuffed in a bag, left outside for garbage collectors to dispose, having no idea what it contained.”
Yasmin Ashareh was an innocent young woman who found herself at the wrong place at the wrong time," Crown attorney David Fisher said during his opening statement Feb. 25.
"William Imona-Russel forced himself on Yasmin, and then stabbed her to death all of which makes him guilty of first-degree murder."
Finally, Mr. Awad Ashareh said thanks to all the members of the community, friends of Yasmin, Crown attorney David Fisher, Toronto Police investigators and Canada Justice.
Muse Kulow, Immigrant Post
Source: National Daily Weekend.com |
