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

OTTAWA — Fifteen years after filing a lawsuit against the Canadian government over his detention in Sudan, Abousfian Abdelrazik is getting his day in court.

An eight-week civil trial, slated to begin in Federal Court today, will revisit events that unfolded two decades ago against a backdrop of heightened vigilance against the threat of extremism.

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

The suit, filed in 2009 and amended in 2017, also names Lawrence Cannon, the Conservative foreign affairs minister from 2008 to 2011.

Abdelrazik, 62, denies involvement in terrorism.

He attained refugee status in 1990 after arriving in Canada, became a Canadian citizen five years later and now lives in Montreal.

He was arrested during a 2003 visit to Sudan to see his ailing mother.

In custody, Abdelrazik was interrogated by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service about suspected extremist links. He says he was tortured by Sudanese intelligence officials during two periods of detention.

He returned to Canada in 2009 after the Federal Court ruled Ottawa breached his constitutional rights by refusing to give him an emergency passport.

Federal lawyers reject suggestions the Crown breached any duty of care owed to Abdelrazik or that any such breach contributed to his alleged false imprisonment, torture and abuse.

The civil trial had been set to begin in 2018, but was adjourned pending a review of emails, memos and other documentation related to the case under the Canada Evidence Act.

“It is shameful that this case took 15 years to get to trial as the Canadian government tried everything to delay and derail it,” said Paul Champ, a lawyer for Abdelrazik.

Among the high-profile witnesses expected to testify are Cannon; Maxime Bernier, who preceded him as foreign minister; former national security adviser Margaret Bloodworth; recently departed CSIS director David Vigneault; and former senator Mobina Jaffer.

The Crown recently lost a bid to have several current and former security officials testify behind closed doors in the lawsuit.

Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson rejected a motion from government lawyers to exclude the public and media from the courtroom during the officials’ testimony to prevent inadvertent disclosure of sensitive secrets.

Champ argues the evidentiary record overwhelmingly points to CSIS working with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to arrange for Abdelrazik’s arrest by the Sudanese authorities.

In its amended statement of defence, the government says CSIS had reasonable grounds to surmise Abdelrazik “constituted a threat to the security of Canada by virtue of suspected links to international terrorism.”

However, it denies Canada shared information with Sudan about Abdelrazik before his detention.

One of the documents disclosed in the case, a secret July 2006 memo to Kevin Lynch, clerk of the Privy Council at the time, says that given the past interest American authorities have displayed in Abdelrazik’s whereabouts, “we will need to demonstrate to the U.S. that we take all aspects of this security case seriously.”

Champ said the case is a horrible example of how intelligence agencies can destroy a person’s life and violate their freedoms, all in the shadows and with impunity.

“Mr Abdelrazik’s case should be important to every Canadian because we need the courts to forcefully condemn the government when it violates the rights and freedoms of a citizen based on suspicions alone.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press