Friday, October 5, 2001
War against Terrorism
Man treated poorly: Lawyer
Donovan Vincent
Staff Reporter
Toronto Star
A lawyer representing a Yemeni man detained in Toronto the same day as the horrific attacks in the United States has complained in court about his client’s treatment in custody.
“I take umbrage with the way he’s been treated,” Nageeb al- Hadi’s lawyer, Gary Batasar, told Mr. Justice Brian Trafford yesterday in the Superior Court of Justice.
Al- Haid, in custody facing U.S. charges relating to improper use of a passport and visa, has not been allowed to contact his family, and is being held in a section of the Metro West Detention Centre with about a half- dozen other men with “Arab or Middle- Eastern sounding names,” Batasar said.
He also complained that his client- who is expected to be the subject if a U.S. extradition request- is being kept in isolation.
“I find that deplorable,” Batasar said, as al- Hadi sat behind him in the prisoner’s dock.
Trafford said he couldn’t address any of the matters raised by Batasar until he brings a formal application to the court.
An official at the detention centre declined comment.
In an interview with Canadian Press, Ontario corrections ministry spokesperson Julia Noonan dismissed the suggestion that the facility is segregating prisoners on the basis of religion, race or nationality.
Al- Hadi is to appear in court again October 25, when Batsar said he plans to seek bail for his client.