Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe’s government is asking the provincial court to penalize an Anishinabe man for allegedly breaching court rules following the publication of information and video from inside a youth jail showing staff immobilizing him with a full body restraint device while he wept, hyperventilated and asked for death.

The August 2010 internal jail video captured several moments inside Regina’s Paul Dojack Youth Centre. According to the video and files obtained by CBC News, Matthew Michel, then 15, was bound for two hours in a device called the Wrap, which kept his body restrained in a forward sitting position at a near 45-degree angle with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Moe’s government is asking the Court of King’s Bench to impose a “substantial penalty” against Michel following reporting by CBC News about his treatment while in the youth correctional system, according to a recent notice of application filed in court.

Saskatchewan claims in the court filing that the “videos, pictures and documents” used in reporting by CBC News came “from the materials that Saskatchewan disclosed” as part of litigation filed by Michel against the provincial government.

  • sik0fewl@kbin.social
    3·
    1 year ago

    I didn’t want to to watch the video so found this article with some better insight and details on the original incident and the video - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/the-wrap-restraint-youth-use-1.6885941

    Some cherry picked paragraphs:

    Michel, then 15, begged for death after spending two hours in the Wrap at the Paul Dojack Youth Centre, according to internal jail video and files obtained by CBC News.

    Michel was kept in the Wrap for over three hours that day.

    In Saskatchewan’s youth jails, it’s meant to be used an hour at a time, unless in exceptional circumstances and under appropriate authorization, according to provincial policy. The policy further says it should only be used as a last resort to stop self-harm or violent behaviour.

    You’ll have to read the article for the method. It doesn’t sound like torture, but it doesn’t sound very comfortable either. The fact that it’s meant to be used an hour at a time suggests that it’s a bit beyond uncomfortable.