Battle for custody continues in Safdar case
Family court proceedings continue after charges stayed in complicated criminal trial
Two days after domestic violence charges were stayed against Adeel Safdar in criminal court, his wife asked a family court judge to have police seize their daughter to prevent an abduction to Saudi Arabia.
Now that Adeel no longer has charges of torture and abuse to answer to and his bail conditions have been lifted, Dr. Sara Salim fears he will leave the country with their four-year-old and disappear. Lawyer Michael Clarke, representing Sara in an ongoing custody battle, asked Justice Mary Jo McLaren to seize the child, place her with Sara, and suspend access by her father.
“There’s no reason for (Adeel) to be in Canada now,” argued Clarke. “There’s nothing to keep him here … There is a high risk of child abduction in this case … (The child’s) welfare and safety depend on swift action being taken now.”
He suggested Adeel is not above using “extreme tactics” to “move this child out of the country … and we’ll never see her again.”
Adeel was born in Saudi Arabia and is now a Canadian citizen. His passport was seized by Hamilton police when he was arrested in April 2015. Rather than turning it over to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as was the case with other family members, his was held by his criminal lawyer, Dean Paquette.
Three of the Safdars were accused of torture and abuse in what became the longest criminal trial in Hamilton history. On Monday the saga came to an abrupt end when, almost 15 months after the trial began, Justice Andrew Goodman granted a stay of proceedings because the case exceeded time limits set out by the Supreme Court of Canada. That meant the accused walked free.
The Crown has 30 days to appeal.
Adeel, a 38-year-old scientist, was charged with assault, assault with a weapon, assault bodily harm, threatening death and aggravated assault upon his wife, Sara Salim.
His mother, Shaheen Safdar, 63, faced the same charges.
His brother, Aatif Safdar, 36, was charged with assault bodily harm, assault with a weapon, assault and threatening death. The Safdars were accused of violent crimes against Sara, a medical doctor, while she lived with them in Binbrook.
The allegations included branding her with an iron, breaking her jaw and forcing her to carve death threats against Adeel and their daughter into her own leg with a knife.
The Safdars refuted the allegations, saying Sara was mentally ill and caused the injuries to herself. They said she invented stories of abuse to win back custody. Adeel currently has custody of their daughter. They live in the same Hamilton home as Shaheen and Aatif.
Paquette made a cameo appearance at the family court trial Wednesday. It was decided he will hold Adeel’s passport until McLaren decides the custody issue.
The child was born in the U.S. and her American passport is with her mother, who lives in Rochester, N.Y.
Previously, McLaren made orders preventing Adeel from applying for a Canadian passport for the girl and preventing her from being taken outside of Ontario or New York state. She needs both parents’ approval to travel from one place to the other. If Adeel had been found guilty in criminal court and sentenced to time behind bars, he would not have custody of his daughter.
“He and his family are manipulative, ruthless, cunning, sadistic liars,” Clarke told the court. He said Adeel will poison his daughter against Sara.
Adeel countered the abduction predictions by saying his daughter has lived in his care throughout the criminal trial and he has never even taken her out of the city. He has abided by every court order.
“She has thrived in my care. Hamilton has been home to her. This is where she took her first step, said her first words, grew her first tooth,” he told the court.
“I have no intention of travelling anywhere right now ... This phantom fear of (the girl) being abducted — it’s completely baseless.”
A once-promising scientist who did research at McMaster University, Adeel’s work is now under review for “academic dishonesty.”
He works at a fast-food restaurant, represents himself in family court and is $900,000 in debt.
Sara, who is practicing medicine in Rochester, pays support to him — which she is contesting — and drives to Hamilton every weekend to visit their daughter.
The Spectator has chosen not to name the child. Clarke told court that officials who oversaw Sara’s visits with her daughter in the beginning noted the relationship was “close and thriving.”