CSIS agent who briefed minister says he has no idea why Abdelrazik was denied travel document

A former Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) agent, identified only as ‘T’, testified in Federal Court regarding the lack of information indicating whether Abousfian Abdelrazik was a national security threat during his final years in Sudan. This information was shared with the federal government, which is currently being sued for denying Abdelrazik passage back to Canada.

Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen since 1995, was arrested in Sudan in 2003 and interrogated by CSIS officials about suspected extremist links. Despite denying any involvement with terrorism, he was left stranded in Sudan for six years before a Federal Court ruling in 2009 ordered his return to Canada, citing a breach of his constitutional rights.

The CSIS witness testified that the service did not possess new or significant intelligence to determine if Abdelrazik remained a threat to national security. While CSIS had believed Abdelrazik posed a security threat between 1998 and 2003, there was no new evidence to support this claim when former foreign affairs minister Lawrence Cannon denied him an emergency passport in 2009.

Efforts to bring Abdelrazik back to Canada were hindered by his placement on a UN list of individuals associated with al-Qaeda, preventing commercial airlines from flying him home. Despite petitions from his lawyer and inquiries from Foreign Affairs officials, CSIS and the RCMP indicated in 2007 that they had no current and substantive information regarding Abdelrazik’s status.

Emails revealed that Foreign Affairs officials advised Cannon to approve Abdelrazik’s travel document, but the minister denied it in 2009. The witness, ‘T’, stated that they were unsure of the reasons behind Cannon’s decision.

Abdelrazik was eventually removed from the UN Security Council terrorism blacklist in 2011. His case, filed in 2009, is now being heard in Federal Court after delays due to sensitive documents. Justice Patrick Gleeson refused a motion to bar the public and media from the courtroom, instead implementing measures to protect witnesses’ identities.

Former Foreign Affairs minister Lawrence Cannon is expected to testify in Abdelrazik’s case. The lawsuit seeks $27 million in damages for the government’s handling of Abdelrazik’s situation.