Wednesday 1 September 2010

Conservative government still blocking Afghan committee requests

CBC News - Canada - MacKay denies Afghan committee request

The Conservative government has refused a parliamentary committee's
request to allow the military's former top lawyer to testify without
legal restrictions on the Afghan detainee affair, CBC news has learned.


Ken Watkin, Canada's former chief military prosecutor, said his involvement with the Afghan detainee file was covered by solicitor-client privilege. Ken
Watkin, Canada's former chief military prosecutor, said his involvement
with the Afghan detainee file was covered by solicitor-client
privilege.
(Dan Balilty/Associated Press)
Letters
obtained by CBC news show that Defence Minister Peter MacKay was
unwilling to waive the government's right to solicitor-client privilege
when it comes to the testimony of the military's one-time senior legal
adviser, despite a request for it to do so from the House of Commons
special committee on Afghanistan.


Last November, retired brigadier-general Ken Watkin, a former judge
advocate general of the Canadian Forces, was called to testify before
the committee as it investigated the Canadian government's handling of
Afghan detainees.



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