Ottawa seeks to protect Saudi spy secrets in civil cases

In the motion filed in Federal Court, government lawyers are seeking an order under the Canada Evidence Act to prevent the disclosure of certain documents as well as an injunction prohibiting Saad Aljabri or his representatives from sending certain information. in the Ontario justice system.

Legal legend

This is the latest twist in the legal saga involving Mr. Aljabri, who alleged that he was targeted by a group of assassins sent to Canada by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

A group of Saudi companies went to Ontario Superior Court because they claimed they had been defrauded of billions of dollars by Mr. Aljabri, who now lives in Toronto. These companies were allegedly created by the Saudi government to serve as cover for counter-terrorism operations.

Mr. denied. Aljabri takes any responsibility and says these companies are controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who took power in 2017.

After working for many years in Saudi Arabia’s intelligence service, Saad Aljabri pleaded that the prosecution against him in an Ontario court was part of an operation to intimidate and harm him because he was a key ally of former Crown Prince Mohammed. bin Nayef Al Saud.

The Shadow of Prince Bin Salman

Two years ago, Aljabri filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court in which he said Prince bin Salman launched assassins after he was in Canada shortly after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The latter was killed inside the Saudi embassy in Turkey in October 2018. Also according to Mr. Aljabri, the plot against him was thwarted by the Canadian authorities.

Consistent with their lawsuit in Ontario, the Saudi companies took legal action against Mr. Aljabri in a U.S. court. The U.S. government, however, has implemented state secret privilege, which led to lower charges last year.

In support of his desire to dismiss the Ontario court case, attorney John Adair, defending Mr. Aljabri, indicated that he would file a notice of motion and an affidavit in court.

These documents is likely to contain information that overlaps with information not included in U.S. proceedings because it is protected by state secretcan we read the request for an injunction from the Canadian government filed in Federal Court.

Sensitive information

On May 24, federal lawyers warned Me Adair that the documents he would file in an Ontario court generates confidential or potentially harmful information and he must first notify the Attorney General as required by the Evidence Act.

Mr. Adair would argue that the law was applied to the circumstances of his approach and insist that the U.S. government needs to intervene in Canadian proceedings if it wants to protect this information, according to Ottawa.

Then, on May 31, the Attorney General received a notice from a Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) official, in connection with the Evidence Act, that he would soon disclose sensitive information in court proceedings in Ontario. On the same day, Me Adair was told that a regulatory ban prevented him from disclosing these documents.

In a letter written on June 1, Mr. Adair maintained his position that the Evidence Act did not apply to his case and that he still intended to file the documents in court.

In response, the federal government attorneys ’motion states that because it does not accept explicit legal authority of the Canada Evidence Act, an order is needed to prevent Me Adair from making public information that could harm national security.

Government lawyers say the Attorney General intends to hold a hearing to discuss the confidentiality of the documents at the heart of this case, but they warn that this process will take time.

However, the need for an injunction remains pressingthey write.

Email letters related to the case indicate that exchanges took place between the lawyers earlier this month and reported that Mr Adair had assured that he would not file such documents before June 13.

Me Adair is not available at the moment to answer our questions. It has not been determined when the federal government’s request hearing may take place.