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A convicted killer who escaped from a minimum-security federal penitentiary in Laval three months ago was arrested in Hungary earlier this week.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) announced the arrest of Yacine Zouaoui, 32, on Thursday.
On May 23, he left the minimum-security Federal Training Centre in Laval and was unaccounted for when a head count was done at 10:45 p.m. He was serving the life sentence he received in 2012, after a jury in British Columbia found him guilty of second-degree murder.
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Following the escape he was placed on a list of Quebec’s 10 most wanted criminals.
“It is thanks to information received from a partner in the last few days and the rapid mobilization of our precious allies such as the RCMP, Correctional Service Canada, Interpol and the Canada Border Services Agency, that Yacine Zouaoui was arrested in Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 3,” the SQ said. “An extradition procedure is currently underway to bring him back to Canada, with the aim that the 32-year-old man can be brought to justice as quickly as possible.”
On June 3, an arrest warrant was issued from the Laval courthouse charging Zouaoui with escaping from lawful custody.
He was convicted of second-degree murder for stabbing someone he knew in the back with a sword after the man uttered a racial slur toward Zouaoui in March 2011.
According to a decision made by the Parole Board of Canada, just days before he escaped, Zouaoui and the homicide victim knew each other and “were both involved in the concentrated Hungarian community.”
He was denied parole because the Parole Board of Canada was of the “opinion that you will present an undue risk to society if released on day parole and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen.”
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