Sep
Documentary about Abousfian Abdelrazik Case Puts CSIS on Trial, Check out Screening in Ottawa this Monday
Written by Staff WriterAmnesty International Canada's Secretary General Alex Neve, Abousfian Abdelrazik, and Paul Champ, Abousfian's lawyer, will be speaking at an Ottawa screening of the documentary, The Long Way Home, by Aisha Jamal and Ariel Nasr, on Monday, September 17 at Arts Court Ottawa at 7 pm.
This event is co-presented by Amnesty International Canada, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, and the National Council of Muslim Canadians (NCCM).
MuslimLink.ca's Editor in Chief Chelby Marie Daigle will be facilitating the panel discussion. You can register to attend the free screening on Eventbrite here.
The documentary raises important questions about the war on terror, the value of Canadian citizenship and the role and oversight of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS).
Currently, the Canadian goverment is trying to postpone the trial indefinitely for Abousfian's $27 million dollar lawsuit. This trial could have seen testimonies about the role of CSIS in Abousfian's detention and delay in being allowed to return to Canada from Sen. Mobina Jaffer, Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, Liberal MP Wayne Easter and Quebec MP Maxime Bernier.
According to Paul Champ in an interview with the Toronto Star, "the testimony from parliamentarians will show how elected officials were kept in the dark. 'Mr Abdelrazik’s trial will expose the enormous gaps in the oversight of CSIS and the extent to which the Service believes it can destroy the lives of citizens with impunity.'".
The documentary and discussion will also explore the role of Canadian social justice activists in rallying to bring Abousfian Abdelrazik home when the Canadian government was making it impossible for him to return to his young family in Montreal.
Amnesty International is also currently campaigning that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take "direct and personal" action to ensure that justice is served in Abousfian Abdelrazik's case. You can sign the petition online here.
https://twitter.com/AICanadaMedia/status/1040607791432585216
This article was produced exclusively for Muslim Link and should not be copied without prior permission from the site. For permission, please write to info@muslimlink.ca.