Mike on Crime

By Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press

WINNIPEG — Fari Noedost stepped out of Stony Mountain penitentiary this week and should have immediately been put on a plane with a one-way ticket back to Iran.

Instead, the convicted sex offender and drug dealer remains on Canadian soil as federal immigration officials debate the ethics of deporting him back to his politically unstable homeland — a debate that could see him released on bail in the meantime.

Noedost, 33, was scheduled for automatic removal based on his criminal history, the length of his most recent sentence and an assessment that finds he remains a high risk to re-offend. But immigration sources and documents obtained by the Free Press show his status is now under review based on concerns his life will be in jeopardy if sent packing. Citizenship and Immigration officials cite the circumstances of his escape from Iran years earlier and his claims of finding religion while imprisoned.

“I am not satisfied that he will not face any persecution should he return to Iran based on the possibility of an outstanding warrant and his conversion to Christianity. It is more probable than not that the Iranian government will have a record of his escape and that if he returns to fulfill his prison sentence, it is my view it would more likely than not result in a death sentence for him,” an immigration official wrote in a recent report.

Noedost remains in custody on an immigration hold and is scheduled for a hearing this morning to decide whether he should remain behind bars or be granted bail while his file remains open.

“This is insane this is being allowed to happen. His safety is more important than the Canadian public?” a federal immigration source said this week.

The source noted no specific information has been provided outlining exactly what threats Noedost faces if returned to Iran.

“There has never been any submissions about possible torture or death. It’s like someone has just assumed this,” said the source. “There should be debate on this issue. What’s more important, the risk he faces back in Iran or the risk the Canadian public faces with him on the streets of Winnipeg?”

Court documents show Noedost was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2007 on a charge of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. He was also given a three-year suspended sentence and probation in April 2008 on a sexual assault conviction. Two other sex assault charges were stayed by the Crown.

Noedost had been arrested in 2006 after two girls, aged 15 and 16, claimed they were abused after passing out from drugs and alcohol in Noedost’s inner city apartment on three occasions. The alleged attacks were reported by Noedost’s 16-year-old girlfriend, who told police she stumbled across videotape of two of the incidents. She claimed Noedost eventually destroyed the tape by throwing it in a fire.

Noedost also has prior convictions for drugs, fraud and mischief between 2000 and 2002. However, he didn’t receive anything more than a fine. Noedost came to Canada years earlier as a refugee.

His deportation became mandatory after his latest sentence because it was a federal penitentiary term that exceeded two years.

“There is also a significant history of violence and hostility towards women, impulsiveness and a strong lack of concern for others along with a history of poor problem solving skills: e.g. resorting to violence towards individuals who cannot protect themselves,” prison officials wrote in a recent report.

Federal immigration officials have also written that “on the balance of probabilities Mr. Noedost is a possible re-offender whose presence in Canada creates and unacceptable risk to the public.”

Canada has often balked at deporting criminals if there is evidence they might be at risk in their country of origin.

Reports surfaced in late 2007 that a violent Winnipeg street gang member who claimed deportation to his native Somalia would be akin to a “death sentence” was killed shortly after his forced return home.

Canadian immigration officials and a Winnipeg lawyer confirmed reports that Hussein Jilaow met a violent end. Jilaow was kicked out of Canada following a legal battle in which he fought deportation on humanitarian grounds. Federal Justice Sean Harrington initially ruled Jilaow could remain in the country — despite posing an ongoing risk to public safety — because he would be in danger if deported according to the travel plans outlined by the Canada Border Services Agency.

But the decision was overturned a few months later when CBSA made “alternative” arrangements that they hoped would provide greater protection to Jilaow.

Jilaow had come to Winnipeg as a refugee when he was 14 and amassed 13 convictions for violent offences since 1999 while a high-ranking member of the Mad Cowz.