Abdelrazik’s lawyer accuses feds of ducking ‘political blowback’ in torture case
OTTAWA — A Montreal man’s lawsuit over his detention and alleged torture in Sudan is heading to a Federal Court hearing in September following the abrupt cancellation of settlement talks.
The federal government recently nixed the planned mediation sessions in the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik just before they were to begin, said lawyer Paul Champ, who has fought on behalf of his client for years.
Champ accused the government Tuesday of shelving the prospect of a resolution with Abdelrazik over “political blowback” from a multimillion-dollar settlement in a lawsuit filed by Toronto-born Omar Khadr.
Abdelrazik, 56, came from Africa as a refugee in 1990 and attained Canadian citizenship five years later. He was arrested, but not charged, during a 2003 visit to see his ailing mother in Sudan.