Politics
Abousfian Abdelrazik’s lawyer has accused former foreign minister Lawrence Cannon of exiling the Montreal man by denying him a passport to return to Canada.
Abousfian Abdelrazik is suing Ottawa for $27M, accusing it of contributing to his mistreatment abroad
Jim Bronskill · The Canadian Press
· Posted: Dec 11, 2024 5:38 PM EST | Last Updated: 6 hours ago
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon delivers a farewell speech at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa on Monday, May 9, 2011. Cannon testified that he refused Abousfian Abdelrazik an emergency travel document on national security grounds. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)A lawyer for Abousfian Abdelrazik has accused former foreign minister Lawrence Cannon of exiling the Montreal man by denying him a passport to return to Canada.
Cannon told a Federal Court hearing today he did not exile Abdelrazik but refused him an emergency travel document on national security grounds in the best interests of Canada.
The Sudanese-born Abdelrazik, now 62, settled in Montreal as a refugee and became a Canadian citizen in the 1990s.
Abousfian Abdelrazik arrives to Federal Court in Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)During a 2003 visit to his native country to see his ailing mother, he was arrested, imprisoned and questioned about suspected extremist connections.
Abdelrazik, who denies involvement in terrorism, says he was tortured by Sudanese authorities during two periods of detention.
He is suing the Canadian government, claiming officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and blocked his repatriation to Canada for several years.
