CSIS did not want Abdelrazik to return to Canada, former diplomat tells court
CBC
CSIS's objective was to keep Abousfian Abdelrazik detained in Sudan, a former diplomat who worked on the case testified Monday in a hearing on the Montreal man's lawsuit against the federal government.
Scott Heatherington served as director of foreign intelligence at Foreign Affairs and has since retired. He continued his testimony Monday as part of Abdelrazik's multi-million dollar civil suit claiming the federal government arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his detention by Sudanese authorities and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada for several years.
The federal government argues Canada did not urge Sudan to keep Abdelrazik in detention and is not responsible for his mistreatment.
The now 62-year-old Abdelrazik was arrested in Sudan during a 2003 trip to visit his mother. He was interrogated while in custody by Sudanese officials and Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents about suspected extremist links. He has denied any involvement in terrorist activity.
On Monday, Heatherington was shown emails spanning two decades that he exchanged with other diplomats working on the case, and with CSIS officials.
In one exchange, a CSIS official — whose name was redacted from the documents shown in court — wrote to Heatherington to "make it crystal clear" that the service felt Abdelrazik was a terrorist.
"What threats would ensue if Abdelrazik is released? The same high level of threat he posed prior to his incarceration. What threat does he pose to Canadian interests while he is detained? None," reads the emails.
During cross examination, Paul Champ, Abdelrazik's lawyer, suggested to Heatherington that the exchange shows "CSIS's top objective" was to see Abdelrazik remain in detention.
"It's pretty clear the message," said Heatherington.
"That was the message you understood from them," asked Champ.
"I did," Heatherington responded.
Champ later took Heatherington through a memo he signed in the summer of 2004 about the ongoing case.
"CSIS regards him as a dangerous terrorist and would prefer that he not return to Canada," the memo said.
Questioned by Champ, Heatherington agreed that was CSIS's consistent position at the time.
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