Charter application delayed in alleged child abduction case
LETHBRIDGE – A hearing centred around the case of a 33-year-old woman accused of abducting her child and fleeing to Belize has been delayed, as the Crown works to gain access to authorities in the South American country.
The woman cannot be named to protect the identity of her child.
Defence lawyer Bill Wister filed the application under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms last month, and the hearing was expected to begin Tuesday, May 29. 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.
For the defence application, police officials in Belize are needed to testify in the hearing via CCTV, however, specialized prosecutor Tony Bell explained that Canada and Belize do not have a treaty known an MLAT (mutual legal assistance treaty), in which signatories will share information gathered in their country for a legal matter in another nation.


