KINGSTON -- The Montreal couple accused of murdering three of their teen daughters and the man's first wife have lost a court concession that might have permitted them to maintain some contact with three of their remaining children.
Yesterday, Mohammed Shafia, 56, and his wife, 39-year-old Tooba Mohammed Yahya, were brought into Kingston's criminal bail court, where they sat quietly, flanking interpreter Jamshid Najmi and listening as he translated the arguments of their defence lawyers and assistant Crown attorney into Farsi.
The family is originally from Kabul and has only lived in Montreal for two years: Neither parent is proficient in English or French.
A court order prohibiting the pair from communicating with each other or their eldest son, 18-year-old Hamed Mohammed Shafia, also charged with the murders, remains in effect.
Hamed Shafia, who speaks fluent English, was not present in court with his parents, but is scheduled to make a bail court appearance by video-link on Friday.
The husband, wife and son are all charged with four counts of first-degree murder and matching counts of conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of three of the family's daughters, Zainab Shafia, 19, Sahar, 17 and Geeti, 13, as well as that of Rona Amir Mohammed, 50.
All four were pulled from the Rideau Canal on June 30 after a car was discovered submerged near one of the locks.
By the time the dead were discovered, remaining family members had returned to Montreal and filed a missing person report on Mohammed and the three girls.
Earlier this month, defence lawyers convinced the court to allow the parents and children to speak, providing that permission could be obtained from child protection authorities in Montreal.
Yesterday, however, Justice of the Peace Cathy Hickling rescinded the less than three-week-old exemption and again ordered Shafia and Yahya have no communication with the children.
