Premiering April 7, TVO podcast 'Unascertained' sheds light on the mysterious death of a young man in an Ontario jail
Toronto, ON, March 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Premiering Wednesday, April 7, 2021 on TVO.org, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are available, TVO's Unascertained podcast is a six-part series that delves into the troubling story of Soleiman Faqiri, a young man whose tragic 2016 death in an Ontario prison has yet to be explained. Along the way, it follows a family's search for justice, and how the prison system has failed people with mental health issues.
Diagnosed with schizophrenia and arrested while he was in the throes of a crisis, Faqiri was 30 years old when he died in solitary confinement in Lindsay, Ontario's Central East Correctional Centre. There were more than 50 signs of blunt-impact trauma to his body, but a coroner's report deemed the cause of his death "unascertained." This new TVO podcast investigates the events that led to Faqiri's death, and reveals a dark side of corrections in Ontario.
"Unascertained shines a bright and uncomfortable light on a terrible thing that happened, that should never have happened, and that was never explained," says John Ferri, TVO's VP of Current Affairs and Documentaries. "Through the voices of a witness, lawyers and family and friends, this podcast uncovers critical facts and asks critical questions about what really happened the day Faqiri died in a jail cell."
Through a disturbing minute-by-minute account of the final moments of Faqiri's life, including new details from an inmate who witnessed the incident, host Yusuf Zine takes listeners deep into the haunting sequence of events that transpired before and after Faqiri died, and the two investigations that failed to determine a cause.
"Combing through thousands of pages of police reports, emails, court documents - we knew something didn't quite add up," says Zine. "There were several conflicting accounts of how Soleiman died, and we wanted to get to the bottom of the truth. But what we didn't expect to find, when we dug deeper, was a disturbing side of Ontario corrections."
Listen to the new TVO podcast Unascertained on Wednesdays, starting April 7, 2021. New episodes will be posted each week, starting with the first two episodes on launch day.
About TVO
Since 1970, TVO has existed to ignite the potential in everyone through the power of learning. Through impactful digital education products, in-depth current affairs, thought-provoking TVO Original documentaries, and award-winning TVOkids content, we prepare Ontarians for success in school and life. TVO's ongoing evolution as a modern digital learning and media organization prepares us to serve Ontarians for generations to come. TVO is funded primarily by the Province of Ontario, and is a registered charity supported by thousands of sponsors and donors. For more information, visit tvo.org and tvokids.com.
About Innerspeak
Innerspeak Media is a creative producing duo, founded and led by Kevin Young and Yusuf Zine, based in Toronto, Canada. Our work focuses on storytelling through writing, directing, and editing with specific backgrounds in film, television, theatre, and digital experiences. Our recent feature documentary, I Am Rohingya: A Genocide in Four Acts, follows a group of Rohingya refugee youth as they re-enact their harrowing experiences of the Myanmar genocide in a live theatre production. Winner of the 2018 Cinema Politica Audience Choice Award, the film has screened in multiple countries and film festivals around the world including at the United Nations. Our work has been featured in major international news outlets such as The Guardian, Al-Jazeera, CBC and more.
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