A former prisoner of the American prison of Guantánamo sues Canada, accusing him of having played a role in his 14-year detention marked, according to him, by torture and intimidation.
Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian who lived in Montreal for two months, is claiming $35 million from the federal government. He claims that false information provided by Canadian authorities led to his detention in the US military prison where he was allegedly beaten, sexually assaulted and deprived of sleep.
Mr. Slahi told his version in a book that became a bestseller. A film “Designated Guilty” has even been adapted from his memoirs.
In his motion, he claims that surveillance reports were given by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP to American interrogators. “The torture he suffered broke him” and led him to make a false confession about a plot to blow up the CN Tower in Toronto. A project he had never heard of before.
Now 51, Slahi left Canada in 2000 after authorities began questioning him about his links to Ahmed Ressam, a man arrested for plotting attacks on the Los Angeles airport. Angeles. The two men attended the same mosque in Montreal.
In 2009, the Federal Court determined that Mr. Slahi, who was once a permanent resident of Canada, did not have access to intelligence documents because he was not a citizen of the country.
Mustafa Farooq, president of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, says Canada’s complicity in Mr. Slahi’s abuse stemmed from Islamophobic stereotypes. According to him, the country must be held accountable.