The Crown has lost a bid to have several current and former security officials testify behind closed doors in the lawsuit of a Montreal man who was detained in Sudan.
Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson has rejected a motion from government lawyers to exclude the public and media from the courtroom during the officials’ testimony to prevent inadvertent disclosure of sensitive secrets.
The decision comes less than a month before the court hears the case of Abousfian Abdelrazik, who is suing the Canadian government for $27 million over his detention abroad.
In his ruling, Gleeson says the evidence fails to meet the high bar that a party seeking to limit the open court principle must satisfy.
In a second decision, Gleeson granted an order designating four current or former Canadian Security Intelligence Service employees as …