7.09.2008

a little more information about corey glass and robin long

Corey and his counsel, the wonderful Alyssa Manning of Parkdale Legal Community Services, have not yet seen the decision in their recent victory, so they don't know the details of why the court decided what it did.

Based on what they do know, Alyssa believes the court recognized that there is new evidence that the Immigration and Refugee Board has not heard, especially concerning what could happen to Corey if he were deported. The key phrase is "irreparable harm".

Now the appeals process will begin, and it's several steps longer than I would have guessed. Corey will need "three yeses".

The first yes will be the Court granting him leave to appeal.

The second yes would be winning that appeal, to have both his Pre-Removal Risk Assessment and Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications re-heard by the IRB. A different IRB officer would then be assigned to the case.

The third yes would be a positive ruling on either the PRRA or the H&C: the IRB granting Corey refugee status.

This could all take quite a while.

* * * *

Robin's case is a maddening one. The IRB ruled against his PRRA, and began the deportation process. Yet they neglected to inform Robin of this. Then the Canadian Border Services Agency arrested him for not complying with the deportation order! Of course, he couldn't comply, because he didn't know anything about it.

It was obviously a set-up. They wanted Robin in custody before they issued his deportation order. That's a violation of his right to due process, among other things.

So Robin is in jail; a hearing is scheduled for next week. His friends say his spirits are as good as they can be, under the circumstances, that he has lots of visitors and support. In fact, support outside the Nelson jailhouse was getting so vocal that Robin had to tell them to pipe down, or he wouldn't be allowed any more visitors.

We can all agitate for the release of Robin Long, but if you live in BC, your help is especially welcome.

Here's a list of events planned for Thursday. Add your voice to the growing chorus: Let Them Stay!

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