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Canadians defy law to help terror suspect fly home
His supporters claim he's a victim of extraordinary rendition

Despite threats of prosecution from the federal government, more than 100 people have chipped in to buy a plane ticket to Canada for a Montreal man who has been suspected of terrorist affiliations. Abousfian Abdelrazik has been living in the weight room of the Canadian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, unable to come home because he's named on a United Nations terror watch list.
I thought all proper-thinking people supported the UN ...
Most of the 115 contributors from across Canada, including university professors, teachers, lawyers, artists and even a couple of farmers, have given sums of $10 or $20 to buy Abdelrazik's $996 ticket from Khartoum to Toronto. They called it an attempt to "call the government's bluff" on charging them under anti-terror laws. "Because it's a serious federal offence to directly or indirectly collect money for him, these people ... have done so at great peril and risk," his lawyer Yavar Hameed said.

Donor Cory Legassic, a Montreal teacher, told a news conference yesterday he's fearful of being charged, but is comforted by the fact the government would presumably have to go after 114 others. The list of donors includes Joseph Carens, political science professor at the University of Toronto, and Canadian peace activist James Loney, once held hostage in Iraq.

Abdelrazik is listed under a UN resolution that imposes sanctions on individuals associated with either Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Canada must abide by this resolution, which includes a travel ban for such individuals, the government says. A spokesperson for the foreign affairs department would only say yesterday that consequences would be decided later.

Abdelrazik's supporters believe he's a victim of a Canadian version of extraordinary rendition, the highly criticized practice used frequently by the former Bush administration, under which Canadian Maher Arar was sent to Syria, where he was tortured. Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen who was living in Montreal, alleges he was jailed and tortured in the Sudan, after returning there to visit his ailing mother in 2003.
Any medical examination to back this up? Sudanese torturers are, after all, not known for their discretion ...
His lawyer obtained internal government documents as part of the federal court battle to bring his client back to Montreal. The documents, Hameed said, reveal Abdelrazik was jailed on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's recommendation. Eventually cleared of suspicion in the Sudan, he has not been able to make it home. Last December, the lawyer received a letter from the government that an emergency travel document could only be issued if Abdelrazik presents a paid-for plane ticket, something the man could not afford.
Posted by: ryuge 2009-03-13
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=264910