Intelligence

Ottawa, Arar inquiry end legal spat

TheStar.com - Ottawa, Arar inquiry end legal spat

Dispute over secret evidence defused

Public hearings to resume in early May

MICHELLE SHEPHARD
STAFF REPORTER

The legal battle between the federal government and the commission investigating the Maher Arar case has been called off — for now.

The federal government withdrew an application to the federal court yesterday, after Justice Dennis O'Connor agreed to postpone the inquiry's fight to have secret evidence disclosed.

But both sides yesterday maintained their positions.

What's being disputed is O'Connor's summary of the evidence provided behind closed doors by witnesses with Canada's spy service, which he argued was a "measured" report that should not raise any concerns about national security confidentiality. But the federal government disagreed and went to court to block the release of sections of the report.

After almost three months of negotiations, commission counsel Paul Cavalluzzo said yesterday the decision to drop the fight for disclosure was largely to avoid a costly and time-consuming legal battle.

"We decided the best idea would be to basically continue on with the hearings and release (O'Connor's) report and if there is still a dispute between the parties as to what should be disclosed to the public, then we will have one fight in the courts rather than a series along the way," Cavalluzzo said.

Arar's lawyer Lorne Waldman has accused the government of hiding behind a "cloak of national security" to conceal their involvement in the case.

U.S. authorities detained Arar, a 34-year-old Ottawa software developer, on Sept. 26, 2002, in New York, during a stopover as he tried to return to Canada from a vacation in Tunisia. He was held until Oct. 8 on suspicion of Al Qaeda connections, and then flown to his native Syria, via Jordan, despite his pleas to be returned to Canada.

When he was released and returned to Canada in October 2003, he went public with the details of his detention and allegations of torture at the hands of his Syrian captors.

The public hearings, where Arar is expected to testify as one of the first witnesses, are slated to resume early next month.

April 2, 2005 at 09:57 AM in Middle East | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home