Mental Illness and Incarceration: Soleiman Faqiri's Story

This seminar, hosted by the Transformative, Restorative and Alternative Justice Club in conjunction with RadLaw, explores the intersection of mental illness and incarceration.

For information on how to connect: https://www.facebook.com/events/375949180322465/

The keynote speaker, Yusuf Faqiri, is an activist who has been campaigning to raise awareness about his brother’s death at the Central East Correctional Centre in 2016. Soleiman Faqiri was kept in prison custody for days, primarily in solitary confinement, after experiencing an episode of schizophrenia. His family was denied the ability to see him, and he died at the hands of prison guards, only three days before he was to be transferred to a mental health centre.

Soli’s story is not an uncommon one, as people with mental illness are consistently discriminated against, overpoliced and targeted by the Canadian criminal justice system. Join us as we speak about the fatal nexus of mental illness and incarceration, what students can do and the way forward.

Presentation: 50 min; Q&A: 10 min.