Accused Nazi living as Quebec beekeeper

ORMSTOWN, QUE.—Propped up by a shovel that acts as his cane, Vladimir Katriuk putters about his wooded lot in rural Quebec, caring for his bees and appearing to have few worries other than this season’s honey yield.

But a prominent Jewish human-rights organization insists there’s much more to the cordial 91-year-old beekeeper — whom they allege is of the world’s most-wanted Nazi war criminals.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center recently ranked Katriuk No. 4 on its Top 10 list of suspected former Nazis, after a new study alleged he was a key participant in a village massacre during World War II.

An academic article alleged that, in 1943, a man with his name lay in wait outside a barn that had been set ablaze, operating a stationary machine gun and firing on civilians as they tried to escape. The same article said the man took a watch, bracelet and gun from the body of a woman found nearby.

Katriuk spoke with The Canadian Press this week at his small farm in Ormstown, just under an hour’s drive from Montreal.

He has denied any involvement in war crimes in the past. This week he repeatedly refused to discuss anything about himself — other than his passion: the honey bees.

“I have nothing to say,” Katriuk said of the accusations, after putting down a beekeeper’s smoker and replacing a mesh veil for a floppy ball cap.

“When we talk about bees, that’s different. When we talk about my own affairs, that’s something else. I’m sorry.”

Congolese ex-diplomat accused of war crimes gets Supreme Court hearing
By Peter Henderson, Postmedia News April 26, 2012 4:54 PM Be the first to post a comment

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OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada said Thursday it will hear the refugee appeal of Rachidi Ekanza Ezokola, a former diplomat from the Democratic Republic of Congo accused of complicity in war crimes.

The case could redefine how this country considers culpability for war crimes.

“It’s a big relief for us,” said Jared Will, the Toronto lawyer who represents Ezokola. “The scope of the definition of complicity has gone well beyond where it should be, and this gives us a chance to correct that.”

Jacques Mungwarere arrested in Windsor, Ont., for allegedly participating in genocide

Mungwarere will be tried in Canada for his Rwandan war crimes

About 1,200 potential jurors will be vetted in Ottawa next week at the war crimes trial of a man alleged to have participated in the Rwandan genocide.

Jacques Mungwarere, 39, is the second Rwandan to be prosecuted under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, which allows for the prosecution of war crimes no matter where or when they were committed. The first, Desire Munyaneza, was sentenced to life in prison in 2009.

The RCMP arrested Mungwarere in 2009 in Windsor, Ont., and charged him in connection with the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, when nearly 800,000 members of Rwanda’s Tutsi minority and moderates from the Hutu majority were slaughtered during a 100-day period.

Mungwarere’s case is relatively unique among war crimes trials in that he has chosen to have his case heard before both a judge and a jury. War crimes cases are almost exclusively presided over by judges.

Jury has to be bilingual

The selection of the 12 jurors is expected to be difficult, however, because they must be bilingual and must also be ready to sit through a trial that could run nine months.

Omar Khadr image from video leaked to CBS

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher J. Speer was killed by terrorist Khadr

Convicted terrorist Khadr coming home: Toews

10:10 pm, April 19th, 2012
4:37 pm, April 19th, 2012

MARK DUNN | QMI AGENCY

OTTAWA – Convicted al-Qaida terrorist and killer Omar Khadr is coming home.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Thursday the government won’t block the transfer of Khadr from a cell in the Caribbean to a Canadian prison.

Toews squelched speculation the government was considering using a clause in the International Transfer of Offenders Act to keep the 25-year-old, Toronto-born Khadr out of Canada on national security grounds.

Claimant Sampson Jalloh said he was forced to aid the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, led by Charles Taylor, centre. Georges Gobet / AFP / Getty Images files

Canada refuses sanctuary to a soldier in Charles Taylor’s army

Adrian Humphreys Apr 3, 2012 – 10:06 PM ET | Last Updated: Apr 3, 2012 10:13 PM ET
Georges Gobet / AFP / Getty Images files
Claimant Sampson Jalloh said he was forced to aid the National Patriotic Front of Liberia, led by Charles Taylor, centre.
By Adrian Humphreys

Sampson Jalloh was a young man when conscripted by the rebel army in Liberia that had tortured and murdered his father. A member of the Mandingo ethnic minority, his job was to go into villages and lure fellow Mandingoes out of their homes, where they would be brutalized and killed by rebel fighters.

After four years of such barbarism he fled, eventually arriving in Canada, where he claimed refugee status.

His appeal for sanctuary here has been turned down, however, with the government not believing he was forced into his gruesome duties, instead declaring him guilty of crimes against humanity and being a member of an organization engaged in terrorism and subversion. He has been ordered deported, but his removal still faces potential legal challenges.

The case highlights the stark, potentially life-or-death questions that must be answered by the Immigration and Refugee Board and the Federal Court of Canada. Mr. Jalloh, now 41 and living in Toronto, and his lawyer argued that he was a victim of the atrocities, not complicit in them.

No legal aid for man accused of war crimes

The Canadian Press

Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa

CALGARY – The Alberta Court of Appeal has denied legal aid to a man who has been ordered extradited to the United States to face immigration charges.

Jorge Vinicio Orantes Sosa (hore-HAY’ Vin-EE’-see-OH’ ORR’-ent-EHS’ SOH’-sah) is also wanted by Guatemalan authorities for alleged war crimes.

Sosa wanted a legal-aid lawyer to help him appeal the extradition order.

But the Appeal Court says there is no evidence to justify a publicly funded lawyer.

The court points out Sosa’s notice of appeal came after a 30-day deadline, but the justices ruled he can apply for an extension.

Sosa is accused of lying to immigration officials about his past when he applied for U.S. citizenship.

He is also a Canadian citizen and remains in custody in Calgary while he appeals his extradition.

Guatemalan authorities allege he participated in a massacre of 251 men, women and children in a village in the Central American country in 1982.

Sosa, who denies the allegations, was arrested last year in Lethbridge, Alta.