Courts, Corrections, Incarceration

Ten First Nations in northern Ontario are suing the federal and Ontario governments for $95 billion in damages and threatening to block mining critical minerals in the “Ring of Fire” in the province’s north. “We hear so much about building mines and roads, but not without our community's permission,” one chief said April 26. “Our community is not against development (but) now we're at the point where we say, ‘we do this together or we don't do it’.” [node:read-more:link]

Without indicating how it might enforce its decison, an Iranian court has ruled that the U.S. government and a number of individuals and entities, including former President Barack Obama, must pay nearly US$313 million in compensation for Islamic State attacks in Tehran 2017. Among other things, the court accuses the Central Intelligence Agency of “organising and guiding terrorist groups.” [node:read-more:link]

London-based British American Tobacco has agreed to pay more than US$635 million as a penalty for selling cigarettes to North Korea through its Singapore subsidiary in violation of U.S. sanctions. [node:read-more:link]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said today that his government will not quit the International Criminal Court as he had suggested April 25. It blamed “an error in a comment made during a briefing.” The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Putin who is scheduled to attend a South African summit with Brazilian, Chinese and Indian leaders. [node:read-more:link]

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says his government has decided to quit the International Criminal Court after it issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. That meant that South Africa, which has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would have had to detain him when he meets Ramaphosa and their Brazilian, Chinese and Indian counterparts for an upcoming summit. [node:read-more:link]

Toronto MP Han Dong, who quit the Liberal caucus last month to sit as an Independent, is seeking $15 million in damages from Global News over allegations that he was a “witting” participant in Chinese meddling in Canadian political affairs. His statement of claim says “false, malicious, irresponsible and defamatory” stories based on anonymous sources claimed Dong asked the Chinese consul general in Toronto in early 2021 to have Beijing delay repatriation of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig. [node:read-more:link]

Five years after a French court ruled that the evidence against him was insufficient and he was released from prison, Ottawa academic Hassan Diab, 69, was found guilty today in absentia on charges related to the bombing of a Paris synagogue in 1980. He originally was arrested by RCMP in 2008 and extradited in 2014 despite witnesses who said he was writing exams in Lebanon at the time of the bombing. Having reopened the case in 2021 with no new evidence, the France has issued an arrest warrant. [node:read-more:link]

Four U.S. citizens and three Russians have been charged by the U.S. Justice Department with conducting a “malign influence campaign” which involved recruiting and funding U.S. political groups to act as “unregistered illegal agents of the Russian government.” [node:read-more:link]

A French court has cleared Air France and Airbus of charges of involuntary manslaughter over a June 2009 crash which killed all 228 persons aboard. The Airbus A330 stalled during a storm and plunged into the Atlantic from an altitude of 38,000 feet. The court ruled that even if there were operational errors, a causal link to the crash could not be proved. [node:read-more:link]

Dominion Voting Systems, a company with headquarters in Toronto and Colorado which manufactures and supplies electronic voting machines, has won a defamation suit against New York-based Fox News Channel. Dominion had sued Fox over its conspiracy theories about the 2020 U.S. election but the broadcaster offered a US$787.5-million out-of-court settlement today just as a jury trial was about to start in New York. [node:read-more:link]

An Iranian court has sent 10 Revolutionary Guards members, including their unit commander, to prison over the January 2020 downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752. The Boeing 787-300 with 176 crew and passengers had just taken off from Tehran on a scheduled flight to Kyiv when it was struck by two air defence missiles. [node:read-more:link]

A 33-year-old woman has been charged with three counts of public mischief as well as one each of fabricating evidence and intimidation for accusing Halifax police of using excessive force in an incident last year. A “full and through investigation” by a police oversight board found that the women had fabricated evidence and threatened a witness. [node:read-more:link]

Two women arrested upon returning to Canada last week from a prison camp in Syria were ordered released on bail after court appearances today in Brampton, Ont. Ammara Amjad and Dure Ahmed were ordered released pending terrorism peace bond applications, details of which are subject to publication bans. They were among four Canadian women and 10 children who landed in Montreal last week; three were arrested but the fourth was not detained. [node:read-more:link]

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is being investigated by the province's ethics commissioner about alleged interference in the administration of justice arising from a telephone conversation with a “street pastor” prosecuted for challenging coronavirus restrictions. Her disclosure today comes as the provinces prepares for an expected May 29 provincial election. [node:read-more:link]

Documents introduced in a U.S. federal court in New York show that an Ontario resident extradited from Canada for trial, claimed to have smuggled more than 1,000 people into the U.S. Simranjit Singh, an Indian citizen from Brampton, who pleaded not guilty, is accused of trafficking across the border through Akwesasne Mohawk territory, which straddles the St. Lawrence River. [node:read-more:link]