Trial set to begin for alleged Somalia hostage-taker

OTTAWA The trial of a man accused of taking Alberta journalist Amanda Lindhout hostage in Somalia is slated to begin on Thursday, a few days behind schedule.

On Tuesday, Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Smith ruled the trial can begin this week, even though a legal dispute over secret information is unresolved.

The trial was supposed to start last Monday, but defence counsel argued that Ali Omar Ader couldn’t get a fair hearing at this point due to side proceedings in a different court over how much sensitive information can be admitted.

A Federal Court judge recently ruled certain classified records must remain under wraps, a decision Ader’s lawyers are challenging in the Federal Court of Appeal.

Lindhout, a native of Red Deer, and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were seized by masked gunmen near Mogadishu in August 2008. Both were released in November 2009.

Ader, a 40-year-old Somalian national, faces a criminal charge of hostage-taking for his alleged role as a negotiator. He was arrested in Ottawa in June 2015 following a complex international police investigation.

It emerged during pre-trial motions last spring that the RCMP had lured Ader to Canada through an elaborate scheme to sign a purported book publishing deal.

Lindhout, 36, has published a bestselling memoir of her 460 days as a prisoner. In 2009, she established The Global Enrichment Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering leadership in Somalia through educational and community-based programs.