A Montreal man who claims he was abandoned by Canada and subjected to torture in Sudan has the green light to pursue his lawsuit against the federal government.
The Federal Court this week rejected a government motion to strike significant parts of Abousfian Abdelrazik's suit for $27 million.
The government argued it couldn't be sued by individuals for torture, that the government isn't duty-bound to protect Canadians detained abroad and that Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon couldn't be named personally in the lawsuit.
Abdelrazik's lawyer Paul Champ said the decision is "notable" as it's "the first time a Canadian court has recognized torture as a potential cause of action.
"It also opens the court door to other Canadian citizens who were abused in detention abroad while Canadian officials did little or nothing to help," he said.
Champ said Abdelrazik is "elated" about the decision and sees it as "another step towards justice and holding public officials accountable."
Abdelrazik's troubles began in 2003 when he returned to Sudan to visit his sick mother and was arrested for alleged ties to al-Qaida.
He claimed he was tortured during two stints in custody, and while both Sudanese and Canadian authorities eventually cleared him of any wrongdoing, he found himself stuck in Sudan because of a no-fly order and the fact his passport had expired.
He spent 14 months living at the Canadian Embassy in Khartoum but Ottawa refused to issue him travel documents so he could return home because of the UN travel restriction.
He finally returned to Canada last June after a judge ordered the federal government to bring him back.
In his statement of claim, Abdelrazik alleges the government arranged for him to be detained, encouraged or condoned his torture and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada.
In it, he singles out Cannon, seeking $3 million in damages for allegedly blocking his attempts to return.
The lawsuit alleges that officials from Canada's spy agency, CSIS, questioned Abdelrazik and threatened him on more than one occasion in Montreal and Sudan. It also alleges he suffered multiple beatings at the hands of guards in the Sudanese prisons.
Foreign Affairs has maintained it is incumbent on Abdelrazik and his lawyers to get him off the no-fly list.
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