Help Rafael return to university
In Canada, a medical student was expelled from university…for stating his belief that every human life is sacred and worthy of protection.
In July 2020, the University of Manitoba took the extraordinary step of expelling medical student Rafael Zaki for “Non-Academic Misconduct in the form of unprofessional conduct.” Why? For Facebook posts in which Zaki defended the right to life and made other conservative statements.
Rafael was told that he was the subject of 18 anonymous complaints to the College of Medicine about his social media posts when an investigation was launched by the Deans of the College. He was subjected to seven belligerent interviews with Associate Dean Dr. Ripstein, who acted as investigator, prosecutor and judge. Without evidence, he accused Rafael of supporting sexual assault, endorsing the shooting up of abortion clinics, and being racist, homophobic, and transphobic.
Despite the seriousness of these accusations, Rafael was never permitted to see the complaints against him.
In August of 2020, Rafael filed a Notice of Application for judicial review at the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, as well as a motion for an injunction, asking the Court to allow him to continue to attend university until his judicial review was decided. The Court refused the injunction request; Rafael appealed that decision to the Court of Appeal Manitoba. On April 7, 2021, Carol Crosson appeared in the Court of Queen’s Bench for Rafael to argue against his expulsion from U of M.
Rafael is a Coptic Christian. His parents are also Coptic Christians who immigrated to Canada in the hope of finding freedom from the persecution they suffered for their religious beliefs. Rafael’s pro-life views are at the core of his beliefs, and he cannot deny them. To do so would be to violate his conscience and to deny his faith.
Rafael’s Case
The university refuses to heed the courts
August 6, 2021
The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench decided that the University of Manitoba was biased and neglected the Charter rights of Zaki when it expelled him last summer after students filed anonymous complaints against him because he shared his beliefs on social media. In a landmark decision, the Court determined that, from this time forward, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to Manitoba universities when they discipline students. This will help all students from being persecuted for their deeply held beliefs and opinions and encourage the University of Manitoba to act as the bastion of free speech that it should be.
November 18, 2021
Rafael was sent back to appear before the university committee once again after being successful at the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench. As per the reasons of Justice Champagne, the original expulsion decision was quashed and the University committee was required to re-determine Rafael’s matter, on the basis that there was bias during the original decision making process and that the University failed to properly consider Rafael’s Charter rights, which the University is obligated to respect.
2021 MBQB 178 (CanLII) | Zaki v. University of Manitoba | CanLII
May 12, 2022
Rafael was expelled again, by the panel of the University Discipline Committee, a university committee, stocked with fresh committee members. After Rafael Zaki won his court case at the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, the ruling saying that his expulsion had been biased and without consideration of his Charter rights, his matter was sent back to the same University committee that originally expelled him to determine if his expulsion was justified under the Charter.
This same committee (again, with new members) expelled him yet again, finding that despite his repeated affirmations of regret and apology for his postings, he still was not adequately repentant. Even though he apologized for everything but the core of his beliefs, he was expelled anyway.
For more information, please contact Rafael’s legal team at lia@acaciagroup.ca or ask to speak to Lia Milousis at The Acacia Group.
For media inquiries, please contact Faye Sonier at The Acacia Group at info@acaciagroup.ca.
info@acaciagroup.ca
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