[R-G] US war resister granted last minute deportation reprieve

[Anthony Fenton]

US war resister granted last minute deportation reprieve

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j5N2Lv3Iy4WhzuEbIBYnIB9lfebQ

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canada's federal court on Monday granted US war  
resister Jeremy Hinzman a last minute stay of deportation to the  
United States, a spokesman for the court told AFP.

Judge Richard Mosley delayed Hinzman's return to the United States,  
where he would likely face a court martial for fleeing to Canada to  
avoid deployment to Iraq, while it considers whether to hear his  
appeal of a deportation order.

Hinzman is challenging a pre-removal risk assessment that found he  
would not face undue or harsh punishment if returned to the United  
States, and is also asking to stay in Canada on humanitarian and  
compassionate grounds.

Hinzman, who was among the first US soldiers to flee to Canada at the  
height of the Iraq war, was to be sent home on Tuesday.

The father of two had deployed to Afghanistan in a non-combat role  
after asking the US Army for conscientious objector status.

But when he learned his unit would later be deployed to Iraq, he fled  
with his family to Canada, which is home to an estimated recent 200 US  
war resisters, none of whom have yet to secure refugee status.

More than a dozen US war resisters are fighting uphill legal battles  
to stay in this country, after the first of them was sent home and  
sentenced in August to 15 months in prison for desertion.