
Judge scraps ‘unintelligible’ order to free self-professed hitman claiming asylum
OTTAWA — A Federal Court judge has ordered that a self-described hitman associated with a Mexican drug cartel remain in custody, throwing out a refugee board member’s ruling that he be released pending his asylum case.
Justice Julie Blackhawk says the application for release must be reconsidered by a different board member than the original one whose reasoning she found “unintelligible.”
She says it’s “impossible to reconcile” Immigration and Refugee Board member Maleeka Mohamed’s March 7 finding that the man posed a low danger, with his recorded admissions that he was a hitman.
Blackhawk’s ruling on Tuesday says the man, who overstayed a work visa, was expelled from Canada in 2015 without being charged after telling an undercover officer in Vancouver about working as a killer, including fees, methods and “disposal techniques.”