By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Defence files charter application in alleged child abduction case

Apr 17, 2018 | 3:10 PM

LETHBRIDGE – The defence is launching an application under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in the case of a 33-year-old woman who is accused of abducting her son and fleeing to Belize.

The woman – who cannot be named to protect the identity of her child – appeared in Lethbridge Provincial Court Tuesday, April 17, at which time her lawyer, Bill Wister, filed the charter notice.

The move comes after Global Affairs Canada consented to providing documents to the defence – concerning the woman’s time and arrest in Belize.

Wister explained that he feels his client was denied fundamental justice by Canadian officials, saying they had no right to have her arrested on foreign soil and sent back to Canada. During an earlier court appearance, Wister said the arrest and deportation by Belizean authorities amounted to a “disguised extradition” with a country that we share no such treaty with.

During that appearance, the Federal Crown prosecutor representing Global Affairs Canada, responded by saying that under the principles of international law, the Charter does not generally apply to Canadian officials abroad. He added that the accused was arrested and deported under Belizean law, and that any involvement of Canadian consular officials occurred within the laws and procedures of Belize.

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The hearing is expected to take a full day and is scheduled for May 29.

Background

The woman had been wanted by authorities since 2014 on a charge of child abduction, after she allegedly failed to drop off the child for a court ordered visit with his father. As a result, the father was granted sole custody on an interim basis, and numerous international agencies were involved in the search.

Since then, members of the Lethbridge Police Service tracked the mother and child to Mexico, Guatemala and various parts of Belize, where she was arrested.

On July 19, 2017, police received a tip that the two were in the town of San Ignacio, where they were taken into custody by local authorities.

The woman was jailed in Belize for failing to produce valid immigration documents and deported to the U.S., before being returned to Canada. LPS officers took her into custody at the Calgary International Airport on Aug. 9.

The child went into the care of Belize Human Services and has since been returned to Canada and reunited with his father.

The woman is currently out on bail and living with family, with conditions that prevent her from possessing a passport and from having contact with her child, unless given written permission by a family court.