He killed his brother for leaving Islam. Najib Bellari Update: a translation of this French article by Jihad Watch reader Marc:
Bellari now wants a lawyer
David Santerre
Le Journal de Montréal
As the trial is leading towards closure, Najib Bellari, who is defending himself without a lawyer from accusations of killing his brother El-Medhi because, among other reasons, his brother had chosen to leave Islam, has unexpectedly requested a lawyer.
He made this request after hearing the plea from the Crown prosecutor Me. Éliane Perreault, who literally shattered to pieces his version of the crime, in which he acted in self-defense. This led to an adjournment of the proceedings presided over by Judge Marc David.
Testifying in his own defense Monday, Bellari said he had no choice but to kill his brother, who paid him a visit while on the job at Basha, the restaurant where he was working as a dishwasher, on Sainte-Catherine street in Montreal. Bellari said his brother told him: “‘Najib, come with me, I have to talk to you.’ I shouted at him: ‘Get out of here!,'” the 36-year-old defendant said.
A knife
When his brother insisted, Najib said, he took a chef’s knife and pointed it toward his brother.
“But he moved back and held a chair over his head, as if he was going to hit me. I protected myself and struck him with the knife,” he reported.
“I was in a state of self-defense. I had no choice but to kill my brother. I was working peacefully and he came to provoke me. It’s destiny,” he added.
There was not a shadow of a self-defense in Me. Perreault’s version.
“His brother was not the assailant. He was moving back. He did not advance towards him. All the witnesses said that Mr. Bellari (the victim) did not have a chair in his hands when he was stabbed,” she said.
She also had to address the concerns of the judge, who suggested on several occasions during the court proceedings that perhaps the accused did not have all his mental capacities at the time. According to the Crown’s attorney Me. Perreault, Bellari gave the clearest of explanations to address this concern at the time of his testimony.
“All those who are not Muslims are Satan,” affirmed the accused.
“The last time I saw him, I had asked: ‘Do you believe in God? (Allah). Are you a Muslim?’ He answered no, he did not believe any more. This is very serious,” he explained.