Montreal man detained in Sudan gets day in court with lawsuit against Ottawa

Fifteen years aft filing a suit against the Canadian authorities implicit his detention successful Sudan, Abousfian Abdelrazik is getting his time successful court.

An eight-week civilian proceedings that began Monday successful Federal Court is revisiting events that unfolded 2 decades agone against a backdrop of heightened vigilance due to the fact that of the menace of extremism.

Abdelrazik is suing for $27 cardinal implicit his ordeal abroad, claiming Ottawa arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada for respective years.

The suit, filed successful 2009 and amended successful 2017, besides names Lawrence Cannon, the Conservative overseas affairs curate from 2008 to 2011.

Abdelrazik, 62, denies engagement successful terrorism.

Born successful Sudan, Abdelrazik attained exile presumption successful 1990 aft arriving successful Canada and became a Canadian citizen. He present lives successful Montreal.

He was arrested during a 2003 sojourn to his autochthonal state to spot his ailing mother.

In custody, Abdelrazik was interrogated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service astir suspected extremist links. He says helium was tortured by Sudanese quality officials during 2 periods of detention.

He returned to Canada successful 2009 aft a justice ruled Ottawa breached his law rights by refusing to springiness him an exigency passport.

“It is an bonzer case,” Abdelrazik’s lawyer, Paul Champ, told the tribunal successful an opening connection Monday.

“It’s a lawsuit astir a Canadian national who, for much than a decade, had astir each 1 of his rights and freedoms protected by the Charter violated oregon infringed successful immoderate way.”

Government lawyers privation Justice Patrick Gleeson to disregard the claim.

“The grounds volition amusement that Canada did not nonstop Mr. Abdelrazik to Sudan,” national lawyer Andrew Gibbs told the tribunal Monday.

“Canada did not apprehension him. Canada did not impulse Sudan to support him successful detention, and Canada did not mistreat oregon torture him, oregon make a hazard that these things mightiness happen.”

The civilian proceedings was acceptable to statesman successful 2018, but was adjourned pending a reappraisal of emails, memos and different documentation related to the lawsuit nether the Canada Evidence Act.

“It is shameful that this lawsuit took 15 years to get to proceedings arsenic the Canadian authorities tried everything to hold and derail it,” Champ told The Canadian Press.

Among the high-profile witnesses expected to attest are Cannon; Maxime Bernier, who preceded him arsenic overseas minister; erstwhile nationalist information advisor Margaret Bloodworth; precocious departed CSIS manager David Vigneault; and erstwhile legislator Mobina Jaffer.

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The Crown precocious mislaid a bid to person respective existent and erstwhile information officials attest down closed doors successful the lawsuit.

Gleeson rejected a question from authorities lawyers to exclude the nationalist and media from the courtroom during the grounds to forestall inadvertent disclosure of delicate secrets.

Champ argues the evidentiary grounds overwhelmingly points to CSIS moving with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to put for Abdelrazik’s apprehension by the Sudanese authorities.

In its amended connection of defence, the authorities says CSIS had tenable grounds to surmise Abdelrazik “constituted a menace to the information of Canada by virtuousness of suspected links to planetary terrorism.”

However, it denies Canada shared accusation with Sudan astir Abdelrazik earlier his detention, oregon that CSIS requested, prompted oregon suggested that Sudanese authorities apprehension and clasp him.

One of the documents disclosed successful the case, a concealed July 2006 memo to Kevin Lynch, clerk of the Privy Council astatine the time, says that fixed the past involvement American authorities person displayed successful Abdelrazik’s whereabouts, “we volition request to show to the U.S. that we instrumentality each aspects of this information lawsuit seriously.”

Champ said the lawsuit is simply a horrible illustration of however quality agencies tin destruct a person’s beingness and interruption their freedoms, each successful the shadows and with impunity.

“Mr. Abdelrazik’s lawsuit should beryllium important to each Canadian due to the fact that we request the courts to forcefully condemn the authorities erstwhile it violates the rights and freedoms of a national based connected suspicions alone.”