Accused in naval spy case presses for info on CSIS wiretaps of Chinese Embassy
JIM BRONSKILL
OTTAWA — A naval engineer accused of trying to spy for Beijing is asking a federal judge for full access to information about Canadian Security Intelligence Service wiretaps of the Chinese Embassy.
Qing Quentin Huang says federal secrecy has placed him in an “impossible position” as he prepares to defend against espionage charges.
The Canadian citizen was arrested on Dec. 1, 2013, in Burlington, Ont., following a brief RCMP-led investigation dubbed Project Seascape.
Huang, 53 at the time, worked for Lloyd’s Register, a subcontractor to Irving Shipbuilding Inc.
He was charged under the Security of Information Act with attempting to communicate secret information to a foreign power. Police said the information related to elements of the federal shipbuilding strategy, which includes patrol ships, frigates, naval auxiliary vessels, science research vessels and icebreakers.
In documents filed with the Federal Court of Canada, Huang and his counsel say CSIS received a court-approved warrant in March 2013 to intercept telecommunications at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa.
On Nov. 27, 2013, CSIS sent a letter to the RCMP advising the national police force of phone calls Huang allegedly made to the embassy two days earlier offering sensitive information.
The federal prosecution service wants to introduce transcripts of the calls into evidence at the applicant’s criminal trial in Ontario Superior Court.
As a result, the prosecution service disclosed to Huang redacted copies of the CSIS warrant and the CSIS affidavit sworn in support of the application to obtain the warrant.
However, Huang’s court submission says, the warrant and the affidavit are so heavily censored that he cannot test the validity of the warrant or make full answer and defence.
“The warrant and affidavit, as redacted, put Mr. Huang in an impossible position,” says the filing.
“Without the redacted information, he cannot investigate or challenge the lawfulness of the interception of private communications that form the basis for his criminal charges.”
While in certain cases national security considerations can limit the extent of the information disclosed to the affected individual, in criminal cases the court’s duty to ensure fairness is all the more essential, Huang’s submission says.
Huang’s counsel alerted the prosecution service to the disclosure issue “in a number of letters,” the submission adds.
In February, the prosecution service replied that “virtually all” of the redactions were covered by a section of the Canada Evidence Act that allows the government to shield information from disclosure due to national security concerns.
That prompted Huang to apply to the Federal Court for access to the desired information.
Huang’s current lawyer, Frank Addario, declined to comment on the case.
Huang, who is free on bail, maintains his innocence and will plead not guilty to the charges in Ontario court.
A trial could get underway as early as June, though the Federal Court tussle over the redacted information might delay criminal proceedings.
The Federal Court record indicates the government response to Huang’s submission includes sworn testimony from a CSIS intelligence officer. However, it has not yet been disclosed, nor has a public hearing date been set.
TORONTO — Two Canadians are the latest addition to the United State’s list of most-wanted terrorists that says the men are a threat to American national security and economic interests.
The decision to add 24-yearold Farah Mohamed Shirdon and 30-year-old Tarek Sakr to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists was published Wednesday in an official register of U.S. government regulations.
In an online bulletin, the State Department identifies Sakr as a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who has conducted sniper training for the al- Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. Canadian-born Shirdon, who the Americans say also goes by the name of Abu Usamah, is a prominent fighter, as well as recruiter and fundraiser for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
“Today’s action notifies the U.S. public and the international community that Sakr and Shirdon are actively engaged in terrorism,” the U.S. State Department said in a release online.
In September 2015, the RCMP laid terrorism several charges in absentia against Shirdon, including participation in the activity of a terrorist group and instructing others to carry out terrorist activity.
The charges against the Calgary man came a year after an ISIL video surfaced of him burning his Canadian passport. Police say Shirdon — who left Canada on March 14, 2014, to fight with ISIL in Syria — was last known to be in the city of Raqqa.
“Our investigation showed that Shirdon served in a combat role and performed other functions for ISIS such as recruiting, fundraising, encouraging others to commit violence and spreading propaganda,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Marlin DeGrand said when the charges against Shirdon were laid.
One charge also relates to threats Shirdon allegedly made in a video interview with media outlet Vice
U.S. State Department statement
in September 2014. In the video of that interview, a man calling himself Abu Usamah promised there was going to be a “brilliant” attack in New York and ISIL’s flag would fly over the White House.
The U.S. notice about Sakr says he “has conducted sniper training in Syria and periodically travels to Turkey,” but a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale would not give more information about the Canadian man.
“For national security and privacy reasons, the Government of Canada cannot provide information on Tarek Sakr,” Scott Bardsley said in an e-mail Sunday to The Canadian Press.
Bardsley said Sakr does not face criminal charges in Canada and the government “cannot comment on who is or is not the subject of a criminal investigation as this falls under the independent realm of police agencies.”
PeopleontheSpeciallyDesignated Terrorists list are banned from using the U.S. financial system and bars American citizens from helping them or sending money. The list also includes the likes of Hamza bin Laden, the son of al- Qaida founder Osama bin Laden, as well as two men linked to the Paris attacks in 2015 that killed 130 people.
Other Canadians who have been added to the list are Hassan el-Hajj Hassan, who allegedly participated a 2012 bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israelis, and Michel Samaha, a former Lebanese minister of information and tourism who also holds Canadian citizenship.