Trial begins in Lindhout kidnapping
More than nine years after journalist Amanda Lindhout was taken hostage in Somalia, a man will face trial today in an Ottawa courtroom.
Three weeks have been set aside for the Ontario Superior Court trial of Ali Omar Ader, to be heard without a jury.
Lindhout and photographer Nigel Brennan were grabbed by masked gunmen near striferidden Mogadishu in August 2008. Both were released on Nov. 25, 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 by the RCMP in Ottawa in June 2015. It emerged during pre-trial motions last spring that the Mounties had lured Ader to Canada through an elaborate scheme to sign a purported book-publishing deal.
The Crown opted for a direct indictment in the case, meaning there was no preliminary inquiry.
In general, there are many reasons why a direct indictment may be preferable, including cases in which the age, health or other circumstances of witnesses would make it difficult for them to testify more than once.
Behind the scenes, a confidential side proceeding has played out in the Federal Court of Canada over prosecution service concerns about sensitive information that, if disclosed during the trial, could harm international relations, security or defence.
Trevor Brown, an Ottawa lawyer representing Ader, did not respond to requests for comment.
Lindhout, 36, has published a best-selling memoir of her 460 days as a prisoner in which she discusses being sexually assaulted in captivity.
In 2009, the native of Red Deer, established The Global Enrichment Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering leadership in Somalia through educational and community-based programs.
In recent years she has also written articles and given speeches focusing on forgiveness, compassion, social responsibility and determination.
Details of the lengthy police investigation — which involved undercover operations, surveillance and wiretaps — will emerge in court, RCMP Asst. Commissioner James Malizia said after Ader was charged.