The case against an alleged Russian spy is to proceed earlier than expected, and defence lawyers are no longer insisting that they will contest the case.
The Federal Court of Canada announced this afternoon that the matter will now proceed Monday. Earlier this week, defence lawyers had asked for and obtained a delay until Dec. 12, saying they needed more time to prove the suspect was actually a Canadian citizen.
But defence lawyers now say they no longer need the time and they are not commenting whether they will continue to fight the government's efforts to deport the jailed suspect to Russia.
Earlier this month, two cabinet ministers received a private briefing from CSIS and then signed a federal security certificate, deeming the suspect a threat to national security. The extraordinary legal tool allows him to be jailed on secret evidence until he is deported.
“Now we are ready to proceed and we will proceed Monday,” lawyer Stéphane Handfield, told the Globe and Mail.
Asked if he will contest the security certificate, he said: “I cannot comment, you will see what will happen and what we will do Monday.”
Last weekend, Mr. Handfield was insistent that he would challenge the federal government's claims that his client was a spy. However, on Tuesday, a Federal Court judge criticized defence lawyers for failing to come up with any witnesses who could prove the suspect was Canadian.
The suspect, whom authorities refer to by his alleged alias, Paul William Hampel was arrested at Montreal's Trudeau Airport on Nov. 14. The court filing says the man was carrying $7,800 cash in five currencies, three cellphones, two digital cameras and a shortwave radio.
Authorities allege he used a fake Ontario birth certificate to obtain successive Canadian passports starting in 1995. He is known to have travelled widely, primarily in the Balkans.
Mr. Hampel is the first individual alleged to be a spy to be brought before a Canadian court since 1996. That year, a husband and wife spying team spent three weeks in jail, before agreeing to be deported to Russia.
No Canada-based relatives or acquaintances have come forward to speak on behalf of the suspect.
