A former Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent says that in 2009, CSIS had very little information to indicate whether Abousfian Abdelrazik was a national security threat — information that was shared with the foreign affairs minister at the time before he denied the Montreal man the emergency travel document he needed to leave Sudan.
The CSIS agent — identified in Federal Court only as ‘T’ — testified Wednesday and Thursday as part of Abdelrazik’s $27 million lawsuit against the government and former foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon.
Abdelrazik, who was born in Sudan and became a Canadian citizen in 1995, was arrested in Sudan during a 2003 trip and interrogated while in custody by CSIS officials about suspected extremist links. The Montreal-based father has denied any involvement with terrorism.
Abdelrazik alleges the Canadian government abandoned him in Sudan for six years before the Federal Court ruled in June of 2009 that Ottawa had breached his constitutional rights and ordered him home.
Abdelrazik, who has never been charged with any terrorism-related offences, says he was tortured during two periods of detention by the Sudanese intelligence agency.
‘T’ worked in counterterrorism for CSIS and was involved in Abdelrazik’s file for years. The trial already has heard how CSIS first took an interest in Abdelrazik in 1996 due to his association with people suspected of being national security threats.
The CSIS witness testified — off-screen and with voice modulation — about a meeting with Cannon, who was under pressure to grant Abdelrazik an emergency travel document so he could fly back to Canada.
The witness told federal lawyers they could not remember the date of the meeting.
“From memory, the assessment would be that since Mr. Abdelrazik had travelled to Sudan, the service did not possess new intelligence or significant intelligence to determine if Mr. Abdelrazik, in fact, remained a threat to national security,” they said, responding to a question from Paul Champ, the plaintiff’s lawyer.
The witness testified they also told Cannon that, between 1998 and 2003, CSIS did believe Abdelrazik posed a security threat, and said that belief was sufficient to get the Federal Court to approve a warrant to follow his activities.
Foreign Affairs officials felt Cannon ignored advice
Emails shown to the witness Thursday showed that Foreign Affairs officials had advised Cannon to approve the travel document.
But Cannon denied Abdelrazik an emergency passport on April 3, 2009.
A Foreign Affairs official felt the minister had “ignored” the advice, according to the email exhibit.
Champ asked the CSIS witness if he felt his briefing played a role in Cannon’s decision.
“I have no idea why Mr. Cannon made the decision he did,” said T, speaking in French.
Cannon is expected to testify next month.
Although it was filed in 2009, the case is only now being heard in Federal Court after a lengthy delay over the use of sensitive documents.
Federal lawyers originally moved a motion to bar the public and media from the courtroom when protected witnesses were called “to avoid injury to Canada’s international relations, national defence and/or national security.”
Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson refused and instead agreed to put in measures to protect witnesses’ identities from disclosure.
CBC News also intervened in the case, arguing the government lawyers’ original request “would unjustifiably limit the open court principle and infringe upon the freedoms of expression and of the press.”
