Abousfian Abdelrazik arrives to Federal Court in Ottawa, on Oct. 21. Mr. Abdelrazik is now suing the federal government for $27-million.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
When Abousfian Abdelrazik was being held in custody in Sudan in 2003, a Canadian intelligence agent who months earlier had warned him not to leave Canada was among those who visited him.
This week, that Canadian Security Intelligence Service agent testified in Federal Court on the unusual second encounter with the Montreal man, 62, whom CSIS suspected was involved in actions that could threaten Canadian security.
Mr. Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, was never charged with any offences, and is now suing the federal government for $27-million. He alleges he was abandoned from 2003 to 2009 in Sudan, where he says he was detained and tortured by that country’s authorities.
“Initially he was smiling, recognized me given that we’d met in Montreal previously,” said the agent, testifying under the pseudonym, “C,” from a location outside the downtown courtroom on Wednesday.
“He was well dressed. He appeared to be rested. And, to tell you the truth, I think he was much calmer than the times when we had met him in Montreal,” said the agent, whose testimony was broadcast through a speaker into the courtroom.
During the first encounter in Montreal, the agent and a colleague had visited Mr. Abdelrazik at his home, where Wednesday’s witness told him that it would be a good idea for him not to travel.
The pair turned up as part of a campaign of monitoring Mr. Abdelrazik over concerns he supported terrorism.
The agent said the subject of travel came up during their discussions in Sudan.
“I asked Mr. Abdelrazik if he recalled what I had mentioned to him during our last meeting in Montreal, and he responded, `Yes, indeed. You told me to not leave.’ ”
The CSIS agent said Wednesday that the travel warning was based on the view that many intelligence agencies at that time, after 9/11, were monitoring individuals who could constitute a threat.
“It was not impossible that Mr. Abdelrazik, while travelling abroad, could attract the attention of other services, beside Canada.”
In September, 2003, Mr. Abdelrazik had travelled to Sudan to visit his ailing mother and been taken into custody by security officials. The following month, the CSIS agent turned up with two colleagues, and they secured time to question him.
The CSIS agents interviewed him during a pair of sessions, one on Oct. 29 and the second on Oct. 30, 2003, as Sudanese officials looked on, but did not intervene.
The agent said that, though the interview had a professional tone, Mr. Abdelrazik continued to reject certain facts that they knew from varied sources.
“We spoke to him about his contacts, people he knew. We talked to him about his travels, of problematic meetings that had occurred for which we had reliable information,” he said.
“As they say in English: `We were pulling teeth,’ ” said the agent, who was testifying in French.
During questioning, Paul Champ, Mr. Abdelrazik’s lawyer, noted that the RCMP investigated Mr. Abdelrazik for two years, concluding their efforts at the end of 2002, and found no evidence of criminal activity.
“I do seem to recall that that was the case, yes,” the agent said.