September 27, 2002
OTTAWA -- The release of details of a Canadian's alleged torture at the hands of Saudi police hasn't changed anything for the federal government, a Foreign Affairs official said yesterday.
Ottawa has already protested the treatment of William Sampson and what it suspected was a forced confession from the pharmaceutical engineer who has been sentenced to die in Saudi Arabia for allegedly planting two car bombs.
Defence documents filed at Sampson's final appeal say he was forced to confess after police hung him upside down, kept him awake for more than a week and threatened to harm his family, his lawyer claims.
They also allege that police slapped and punched Sampson while he was bound in chains and promised to free him if he confessed "to the bombings in a manner dictated by the investigator."
"Of course we've been aware since the beginning," said Foreign Affairs spokesman Reynald Doiron.
"Of course we had heard the rumour which remains unconfirmed that the confession that he did on television was extracted under duress or after he was tortured."
When the torture allegations first surfaced in May 2001, four months after the confession, doctors in Saudi Arabia determined that signs of physical harm were likely the result of fighting with guards trying to prevent Sampson from committing suicide, said Doiron.
Saudi authorities rejected claims of physical abuse and were so put off by Canada's "insult" that Crown Prince Abdullah postponed a planned visit last spring.
The accusations are contained in a confidential brief Sampson's lawyers submitted to Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council, the court that has the ultimate authority to overturn the death sentence handed the Vancouver man in March.
It is expected to announce its decision by month's end.
The 10,000-word submission is the crux of Sampson's final appeal. Two previous appeals were denied.
Defence lawyer Ahmed al-Tuwaijri said in his submission that his clients were repeatedly tortured and shackled with a chain while investigators beat confessions out of them.
"The confessions were illegal and were obtained by coercion and force," said the brief, submitted July 24.
"The guy is trying to represent and protect his clients' interests," said Doiron, adding he isn't trying to challenge al-Tuwaijri.
"It's almost the 'He-says, she-says' thing. We are not in a position to double-check with Mr. Sampson whether he has been tortured."
The arguments in the court brief focus on a series of confessions that Sampson, 43, and five accused wrote after their arrests in December 2000, when they were picked up after a series of remote-control bombings that killed one person and injured five.
http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/es.es-09-27-0050.html