Bail bid torpedoed in case of alleged spy
HALIFAX— A navy intelligence officer in Halifax accused in a case of espionage has been denied bail.
Provincial court Judge Barbara Beach denied Sub-lt. Jeffrey Paul Delisle’s application for bail Friday.
Delisle’s defence lawyer, Mike Taylor, says he is disappointed with the decision but not completely surprised.
A publication ban was ordered covering evidence presented at Delisle’s bail hearing Wednesday.
Delisle is charged with communicating information that could harm national interests. He has been in custody at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility since his arrest in January.
Delisle was charged under a section of the Security of Information Act that was passed by the House of Commons after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.
The RCMP say the charges against Delisle mark the first time that anyone has been charged under that section of the act.
Court documents say one of the alleged offences happened between July 6, 2007, and Jan. 13, 2012, while the other offence is alleged to have happened between Jan. 10 and Jan. 13 of this year.
Delisle also faces a breach of trust charge under the Criminal Code.
All the offences are alleged to have happened in or near Halifax, Ottawa and Kingston.
Up until 2010, Delisle worked for both the Chief of Defence Intelligence and at the Strategic Joint Staff, which oversees virtually every major aspect of the military’s domestic and international plans and operations.
In August 2011, Delisle was posted to Trinity, a highly secure naval intelligence centre in Halifax.
The case is adjourned until May 8.