Ottawa looking into case where Saudi fled sex charges after embassy posted bail

HALIFAX — Federal officials are looking into how a Saudi man may have fled Canada while facing sexual assault charges, as legal experts suspect the Middle Eastern kingdom’s embassy played a key role.

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters in Sherbrooke, Que., that it’s cause for concern when any person skips bail while facing serious criminal charges, and said, “in that particular case we are looking into it.”

Lee Cohen, a veteran Halifax immigration lawyer, said the likeliest scenario is that the Saudi embassy provided Mohammed Zuraibi Alzoabi with travel documents to leave, as his passport was being held while the 28-year-old awaited trial in Sydney, N.S.

Alzoabi’s whereabouts remain a mystery, but a court document says a sheriff unsuccessfully tried to locate Alzoabi on Dec. 8, and quotes his lawyer at the time as saying the young man had “fled the country some time ago.”

Crown prosecutors say Alzoabi had $37,500 of his bail posted by the Saudi Arabian embassy last year in relation to the alleged sexual assault, assault and forcible confinement of a woman between Aug. 1, 2015, and March 26, 2017.

Robert Currie, a professor at the Schulich school of law at Dalhousie University, says the case is similar to an incident just over a decade ago where another Saudi student managed to return to his country as he faced sexual assault charges in Halifax, even though his passport had been seized.

He said if Saudi Arabia is assisting students who are facing trial in Canada to escape justice then it is a “flagrant violation of international law,” and Ottawa should demand explanations.

The Saudi embassy has refused to provide any comment to media outlets since the story first became public last week.

The Canadian Press

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