Family and friends of murder-victim Maple Batalia have been waiting four long and agonizing years for justice to be brought forward. Maple, a Health Sciences student at SFU, was gunned down in the parking lot when leaving the Surrey campus after late night studying.
Two men have been charged including her ex-boyfriend but the Batalia family feels stonewalled with delays and tactics by the accused. This includes the changing of lawyers and constantly rescheduling appearances.
The Batalia family is asking for people across the country to help change the postponements and delays that effect cases, justice and families all over Canada. They are calling for:
- A restriction on the use of tactics such as changing lawyers to get postponement
- Additional resources to be provided so cases can be scheduled and rescheduled quicker
- Additional victim support services such as counselling for those affected by violent crime
The petition can be viewed and signed on change.org and will be taken to the Provincial and Federal governments.
Written by Amar Mirchandani @amarmirch
Image: change.org