Vol. 454 No. 1
67 Mr. Dempsey asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps if any that have been taken and whether anything can now be done to secure a retrial for a person (details supplied) who is serving a sentence in jail in Canada. [10144/95]
The case to which the Deputy refers is that of an Irish citizen who was arrested in Canada in 1984 on a charge of killing a Canadian citizen. He stood trial in June 1985 and was found guilty of first degree murder which carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, a minimum of 25 years. His appeal to the Quebec Appeal Court was turned down in 1989 and leave to appeal to the Canadian Supreme Court was refused in 1990. A provision in the Canadian Criminal Code for the exercise of clemency was then invoked but the Canadian Minister for Justice concluded in 1991 that there was no basis for her to intervene.
The Embassy in Ottawa has monitored this case from the beginning and has maintained contact with the citizen in question and his legal representatives. A representative of the Embassy attended the appeal hearing in 1990. At the citizen's request, the Embassy has made representations to the appropriate Canadian authorities to secure improved prison conditions and it also supplies him with Irish newspapers and other materials.
