By The Canadian Press

‘Uncle Osama’: Iran-born B.C. RCMP officer not offended by terrorist jokes

Sep 18, 2025 | 1:13 PM

A British Columbia RCMP officer who was born in Iran says he wasn’t offended when fellow officers made jokes about terrorism and referred to him as “Uncle Osama.”

Coquitlam RCMP Const. Mersad Mesbah has told a code-of-conduct hearing in Richmond, B.C., that he felt accepted right away and had no trouble fitting in after completing his recruit training.

He says he wasn’t offended by the jokes then and isn’t offended today, testifying under questioning from his lawyer, Allison Tremblay.

He says exchanging jokes or “zingers” with other officers was common, but when a call came in, they would unite with no harm done.

He says the same officer making fun of someone moments earlier would respond to a call and be willing to “take a bullet” for a colleague.

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Mesbah and fellow Coquitlam constables Ian Solven and Philip Dick face allegations of discreditable conduct and possible dismissal over comments made in a group chat with other officers and on police computer terminals.

Mesbah said the comments don’t “reflect well on my character,” but he considered the private group chat on his personal cellphone a safe space to vent with friends.

He said he considered it a private space like his own house, and he wasn’t aware of any RCMP policies regarding group chats.

Mesbah’s testimony on Thursday came after the conclusion of Dick’s evidence.

Dick’s lawyer said her client’s character was not an issue for a code-of-conduct adjudicator to decide.

Anita Atwal said Dick’s character and the “core of who he is” is not before the decision maker in the hearing.

Scott Whitelaw, a lawyer for the RCMP conduct authority, questioned Dick about his use of allegedly racist, sexist and homophobic language in messages and asked how it affected his ability to do his job without bias, or if it would affect public trust in policing.

Whitelaw said Dick had testified that the messages reflected anger, frustration and bad judgment, but then asked “how do we know that this is not who you really are?”

Atwal objected to the question.

“What’s the point of the of the question? His character and the core of who he is is not what’s before this decision-maker,” she said.

Dick said the messages were a way to vent frustration, stress and anger and admitted they were inappropriate, but didn’t reflect how he did his job.

The officer said he disagreed “completely” with the suggestion he failed to lead by example as a senior police officer, although he repeatedly admitted to using inappropriate language in the group chat and on RCMP data terminals.

“I showed up every day to work. I never missed a day of work. I was never late. I treated every one of my co-workers with respect. I helped out everybody. I never had an issue with any member of the public,” he said. “I’ve never had a public complaint. I’ve never had any negative feedback. I did my job professionally, and I believe I was a leader.”

The three officers face allegations in the hearing of discreditable conduct stemming from a complaint made by a fellow officer in 2021.

The hearing’s allegation phase is scheduled to run through Friday, then will reconvene in October to determine if the allegations have been established.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press