Detention in Panama illegal says ex-head of spy watchdog
The former head of Canada’s spy agency watchdog is asking the United Nations human rights commissioner to investigate his claims that he is being unlawfully held in Panama and that his wife was illegally extradited to Canada. Arthur Porter and his wife, Pamela, were detained in Panama in May after he was charged in February with fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in connection with his role as former head of the McGill University Health Centre. The UN complaint, recently submitted by Porter’s Panama lawyer Ricardo Bilonick Paredes and obtained by the Star, claims the country has no grounds to maintain Porter’s detention in La Joya prison. “To date, 60 days have passed and Mr. Porter is still detained illegally,” reads the complaint, dated July 30, claiming the length of time is unreasonable under Panamanian law and that his detention is politically motivated due to his high profile. Bilonick Paredes did not respond to a request for comment. The complaint goes on to claim that Pamela Porter was extradited to Canada “without complying with the formalities required by the law” and despite her desire not to leave. Pamela Porter, charged along with her husband with conspiracy and laundering more than $22 million in the construction of the $1.3-billion McGill super hospital in Montreal, was released on bail in early August by a Quebec Superior Court judge, with one of the conditions being not to contact her husband. Her lawyer, Marc-Antoine Carette, did not respond to a request for comment.
Porter has already stated that he plans to fight his extradition to Canada. He has said that Panama police had no authority to arrest him despite an Interpol warrant because he was carrying out diplomatic business for Sierra Leone, a claim not backed up by that country’s government.
The letter to Todd also states that Porter, who says he is suffering from Stage IV cancer, has received no medical attention since his detention and that his British physician has been denied access to him.
The UN complaint concludes by asking the commissioner’s office to “establish exemplary sanctions against the State of Panama,” following its investigation.