The man who killed six people in a Quebec City mosque in 2017 received a “cruel and unusual” punishment when he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years, Quebec’s Court of Appeal ruled on Thursday.
In a unanimous decision, the court reduced Alexandre Bissonnette’s life sentence to 25 years without parole while at the same time invalidating sections of the Criminal Code that allow judges to hand out consecutive life sentences for murder.
A spokesperson for the mosque where the attack took place said he was dismayed by the decision to lighten Bissonnette’s sentence.