Six Years is Long Enough, says Green Party Leader

OTTAWA-- Green Party Leader Elizabeth May is calling on the Conservative Government to finally take action in the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik, the Canadian citizen who is being held at the Canadian embassy in Khartoum.  “Mr. Abdelrazik has not been charged with any crime and is trapped in de-facto confinement with no due legal process,” said Ms. May. “This farce has been going on for six long years and enough is enough."

In 2003, Mr. Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen from Montreal, went to Sudan to visit his mother and was then arrested and held, without trial, for two years on suspicion of ties with Al-Qaeda.  After interrogation (and possible torture) by the Sudanese secret police, Mr. Abdelrazik was deemed innocent and let go, but the Canadian government refuses to give him travel documents to return home, forcing him to live at the embassy.

“Enough stalling. This is a man’s life and the Canadian government is being incredibly callous.  They need to let him come home and then either have a proper trial or let him go,” said Ms. May.

“Unsubstantiated claims of national security can not be allowed to trample the mobility rights of Canadian citizens under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” says Green Cabinet International Affairs Critic Eric Walton. "It’s increasingly obvious that the Harper government- just like the former Bush/Cheney administration - has lost its way in the so-called "War on Terror" and are undermining the democratic values and institutions they claim to defend."

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From:  Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.       
Mobility Rights:  Sect. 6. (1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.

www.laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter/


Contact:
Michael Bernard
Communications Officer
Green Party of Canada
613-562-4916 ext. 244
(c) 613-614-4916
michael.bernard@greenparty.ca