Abousfian Abdelrazik adjusts his jacket as he makes his way to Federal court in Ottawa, on Oct. 30.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
A former senior Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent says the organization did not share information with the government of Sudan before the 2003 arrest in the African country of a Montreal man now claiming that such an action was taken.
The question was put to a witness identified only as “T” during a federal court hearing on Wednesday. The witness, speaking from a site outside the downtown courtroom, said “No” in response to the question from a federal lawyer.
The witness, who was a counterterrorism director-general for the service, also rejected the suggestion in the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik that his detention came at the request of Canada where CSIS officials alleged Mr. Abdelrazik was involved in extremist activities.
“That’s a false representation,” said the witness, speaking in French. “Canada never requested the arrest and detention.”
Mr. Abdelrazik, who was born in Sudan and became a Canadian citizen in 1995, has launched a $27-million lawsuit against the federal government and former foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon.
He is accusing the defendants of abandoning him in Sudan for six years – from 2003 to 2009 – which he says included detention and torture by Sudan’s intelligence agency over suspected links to terrorism.
His case alleges the Sudan intelligence agency acted at the request of CSIS, which was monitoring and questioning him in Montreal.
The witness, a CSIS agent for 26 years, said the agency took an interest in Mr. Abdelrazik because of its understanding that he had received training at a mujahedeen camp in 1997, and his association in Montreal with such individuals as Fateh Kamel, an Algerian man imprisoned in France over allegations of supporting terrorist attacks.
The witness said that CSIS understood that Mr. Abdelrazik had acquaintances who were Islamic extremists, and was thought to have travelled to Pakistan and, possibly Afghanistan.
He said CSIS was working with the foreign affairs department on the matter.
He said the agency was aware that conditions in Sudanese custody were not the same as in Western countries, but there were hopes that Canada being a signatory to international treaties might provide a level of protection for Mr. Abdelrazik.
Later, the service was invited to interview Mr. Abdelrazik, and the witness said it provided an opportunity to see that he was well, and to make the point that Canada was insistent on due process being followed. “Our expectations were that he should be treated with dignity as a human being,” he said.
CSIS worked with the foreign affairs department on the interview, which was conducted by an intelligence officer from Montreal and a senior intelligence officer from the central CSIS administration.
It was oriented around Mr. Abdelrazik’s knowledge of persons in Montreal, his knowledge of security threats and his association with others linked to terrorist activity. Three Sudanese officials were also present.
In discussing the meeting held over two days in October, 2003, the witness, who was not present for the occasion, was talking as a service leader involved in planning it and with an understanding of how it went.
The witness said he received notice that Mr. Abdelrazik seemed to have been well-treated and to get along with the Sudanese agents.