DONALD MCKENZIE
Jun. 29, 2005. 06:42 AM
MONTREAL—Saying
she is scared of being killed after being released from prison, convicted killer
Karla Homolka is going to court to seek a wide-ranging injunction aimed at
preventing the media from reporting anything about her.
"I believe some people wish to do the public a favour by killing me," Homolka said yesterday in an affidavit that accompanies the injunction request, which will be heard in Quebec Superior Court today.
Homolka, who signed the affidavit under her legal name of Karla Leanne Teale, said all she wants when she is freed between tomorrow and Monday is to begin a new life and be as anonymous as possible.
"As far as I know, nothing has been done to safeguard my security after my release from prison, and the thought of being relentlessly pursued, hunted down and followed when I won't have any protection makes me fear for my life."
The injunction would prevent media from taking photos of her and from trying to obtain any information about her, including her address, her telephone number, her movements and her relationships.
It also targets any such information on the Internet.
The motion for the injunction states the crimes Homolka was charged with sparked feelings of hate, anger, horror and vengeance across the country.
"These feelings have been fed and made worse over the years by the national and international press as well as Internet sites around the world," the document says.
"It is not up to the media or the public to hunt down the plaintiff like an animal in contempt of her basic rights under the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Quebec Civil Code."
Homolka is to be released from a Montreal-area prison after serving 12 years for manslaughter in the sex slayings of Ontario teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s.
Christian Lachance, one of the two lawyers acting on Homolka's behalf, says the notorious inmate is genuinely scared.
"She's very afraid, very afraid," Lachance said. "She can't even imagine that she'll be out in a couple of days. As far as I know, she doesn't even know where she will be living."
Tim Danson, the lawyer for the Mahaffy and French families, said Homolka's true motive in seeking the injunction may be to distract from the threat she poses to public safety.
"What we don't know is whether this is simply part of Karla Homolka being the master manipulator to change the focus from the real problem — the threat she poses to public safety — by trying to portray herself as the victim," Danson said in an interview.
Lawyer Mark Bantey, who will represent several media at the injunction hearing, called the move unprecedented.
"The conclusions she's seeking are so vast," Bantey said in an interview. "Basically, she's asking us to stop writing about her even though she's a public figure. She's asking everybody to stop talking about her, including members of the public."
Andrew Phillips, editor-in-chief of Montreal's The Gazette, said his newspaper will contest the temporary injunction.
"We think there's a valid public interest in knowing what happens to her after she gets out of jail. She's asking for a complete, total ban, which is unreasonable and unrealistic."
Phillips added she was convicted of "some pretty horrific crimes" and people in various communities in Quebec and elsewhere have an interest in knowing her whereabouts.
Phillips said there's the issue of her safety, "but there's really the safety of the public as a whole."
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