By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Belizean police to testify in local child abduction case via video conference

Oct 3, 2018 | 2:28 PM

LETHBRIDGE – After months of work, a hearing date has finally been set to address defence concerns in the case of a 33-year-old woman who is accused of abducting her son and fleeing to Belize.

The woman cannot be named to protect the identity of her child.

Addressing the court Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 3, specialized prosecutor Tony Bell explained that officials with Belize National Police have agreed to appear in Lethbridge Provincial Court via video conference from the Central American country, and he also intends to arrange testimony from Canadian officials at the embassy there as well. The defence noted that they want to call at least two civilian witnesses as part of the proceedings.

The woman’s lawyer, William Wister, intended to file an application under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in April. Wister felt 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. However, for the application to proceed, they required testimony from several police officers in Belize who were involved in the woman’s arrest and detention.

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.

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The hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 2, with a test planned one week in advance to ensure the video conference will work.

The accused has yet to enter a plea in the proceedings.

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.

(This story has been corrected to reflect the fact Belize is in Central America.)