This is the second homeless Iranian to have a run-in with the law in the city of Montreal this year. Back in January, Farshad Mohammadi, 34, was shot dead by Montreal police after he reportedly attacked an officer with a knife. His attorney said Mohammadi was fearful of persecution from his experiences in Iran and paranoid about authority figures.
The homeless Iranian arrested in Montreal last week, Amir Pourasadi, 56, was denied bail for being “unpredictable,” a “danger to society,” and for declaring an intention to leave Montreal if set free, a Quebec Superior Court judge ruled last Thursday.
Pourasadi has been held in custody since he was arrested May 23 and charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy in December while the young teen was riding on a city bus. Pourasadi was also charged with molesting an 11-year-old girl on another bus February 22, and is being investigated in a third case.
Crown Prosecutor Gene-vieve Boutet said his history of repeat offences, breaches of court orders, pending cases in municipal court, and refusal to accept the illegality of his actions make him a threat. He also has no permanent address, no money for bail, and no one to provide a guarantee for him.
“The evidence is strong against him” Judge Genevieve Graton said. “In light of this, detention is justified.”
The Gazette of Montreal reported that since his arrest, Pourasadi has insisted the way he touched the young teens was not sexual. In a statement to police read out in court last Wednesday, he said an act is only sexual if it involves penetration. That is not what Anglo-Saxon law says.
Pourasadi has also said he sees himself as a teacher, including in sexual matters. “I want everyone to have the correct information. What is sex? Why do you need sex? What is the necessity of sex? You have to explain this to everyone,” he said in court.
“Even children?” Prosecutor Boutet asked him.
“Everyone,” he said. “They are supposed to be aware of what kind of relation is right—not to be deceived.”
According to the prosecution, the 13-year boy said Pourasadi followed him onto a bus, held onto him with both hands, asked him to turn around, touched his buttocks, and tried to kiss him.
Pourasadi has been convicted multiple times for uttering threats and assault, which Pourasadi said were all misunderstandings.
“Sometimes I talk of war in my country, and maybe people get the wrong impression that I’m frightening [them]. It’s only a conversation,” Pourasadi told Judge Graton.
This, the prosecution argued, is evidence Pourasadi minimizes the results of his actions. “He denies that what he did was a crime [and believes] that he was wrongfully convicted.”
He has also refused all offers of therapeutic and pharmaceutical assistance, the court heard.
If granted bail, Pourasadi said he would leave the province and go to Ottawa to renew his Iranian passport and, eventually, return to his home country. “I’m from a different environment with a different way of thinking. I would be more comfortable with my family,” he said.
Prosecutor Boutet questioned how he would pay for a bus trip to Ottawa, much less a flight to Iran.
Pourasadi said he has been homeless for at least 10 years since a burnout in 1996 left him unable to work as an engineer. He has a wife and daughter in Ottawa, although they have not spoken for years, he said. He has no permanent address, and spends his time in different Montreal homeless shelters.