Alleged victim testifies in Hay River, N.W.T., sexual assault trial for 3 men

WARNING: This story contains details of sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

A woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted at a home in Hay River, N.W.T., in 2022 testified on Monday at the trial of three men facing charges. 

The woman is one of two complainants who say they were assaulted by two of the men at the home of one of the accused in July 2022. 

"I was very shaken up, scared," the alleged victim told the court on Monday, breaking down at one point as she described the incident that early morning. 

The trial was in its third day for the three accused — Maher Sellemi, Amine Zahi, and Hassen Zellama — who are out on bail and were present at the trial, which was conducted in French with some English translation.

In July 2022, Sellemi and Zellama were each charged with two counts of sexual assault while Zahi was charged with one count of sexual assault. According to the Crown, the three met the two alleged victims at the Hay River Legion Branch over drinks early in the morning of July 3, and later all five went to a house belonging to one of the accused men. 

The alleged victims filed a complaint with the RCMP the following day. Their identities are protected under a court-ordered publication ban.

The woman who testified Monday said that she knew Sellemi and Zahi, who worked at the Doghouse Pub in Hay River. She said she and her friend were at the Legion that night in 2022 when Sellemi invited the women to join him for drinks.

She testified being very intoxicated that night and said that when Sellemi tried to get physical with her at the table, she asked him to stop. 

She said she asked for a ride home, but doesn't remember telling the men her address.

She told the court that afterwards she remembers pulling over at a house with the second alleged victim and the three accused men. She recalled standing in the kitchen area of the house.

The woman testified that at one point, she was alone in a room with Sellemi when Zellama entered and locked the door. She said the two men began removing her clothes, touching her private parts and Sellemi asked her to perform oral sex. 

"I want to go home," the woman said she repeatedly told them while trying to leave. She testified that both the men continued attempting to get physical with her, as she kept trying to cover herself with her hands or clothes. 

She testified that she then went to a bathroom door where the second woman and Zahi were, and asked her friend to leave, at which point Zellama pushed her against the wall. She said both put their clothes back on and that she and her friend then told the three accused men that they were going home. She said Zahi offered to drive them, but they declined.

She said they walked out and were later spotted by Tanisha Edison, a co-worker of the three accused, who testified at the trial last week that she drove the two women home early that morning.

"There were many blank spots," the alleged victim testified on Monday, saying that she and the other woman tried to piece the events together when they got home that morning, as they couldn't fully remember.

When asked by the Crown on Monday how she remembered the details despite being drunk, the woman said she "wasn't blacked out."

Defence argues woman's account is incorrect

The defence counsel for Sellemi and Zellama argued that no sexual assault occurred and claimed the woman initiated physical contact.

Ravi Prithipaul, Zellama's lawyer, presented surveillance footage from the Hay River Legion on that night, and told the court that the alleged victim did not appear intoxicated. He said she was walking steadily and her voice from the footage sounded clear in the video.

Prithipaul argued that the woman willingly went to the residence afterwards that one of the accused men had invited her to, and raised no objections when the vehicle she was in drove in a direction opposite to her home.

Prithipaul said that at the residence, the woman began kissing Sallemi, after which Zellama said he was going to bed. Prithipaul said that the woman then grabbed Zellama's hand and pulled him closer, but that Zellama declined, as did Sallemi.

Joseph Andre Ouellette, the defence lawyer for Sellemi, told the court that the alleged victim's account was inaccurate and that she was interested in an intimate encounter. He argued that if she felt suspicious, she could have left the accused's vehicle and walked home.

The woman responded in court on Monday that "going inside the house does not mean giving consent to sex."

The trial continues on Tuesday.

Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.