Judge to review case of war dodger
A former U.S. paratrooper who fled to Canada to evade the war in Iraq but was denied refugee status will get another chance to plead his case.
A Federal Court judge will hold a judicial review of the case of Jeremy Hinzman, his lawyer Jeffry House told The Canadian Press.
Last March, the Immigration and Refugee Board said that Hinzman hadn't convinced them that he would be persecuted if he returned to his native land.
- FROM MAR. 24, 2005: No refugee status in Canada for U.S. soldier
Hinzman faces a court martial if he goes back and could be sentenced to five years in jail as a deserter.
He enlisted in the U.S. army three years ago as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division. He deserted last year, rather than go to Iraq, and moved to Canada with his family.
During a three-day hearing before the immigration board in December, Hinzman said he sought refugee status because he opposed the war in Iraq on moral grounds and thought the U.S. invasion violated international human rights.
The panel decided that Hinzman was not a conscientious objector.
But his supporters say he is a war resister who should be given refugee status in Canada.
Lee Zaslofsky of the War Resisters Support Campaign called the decision Friday to review his case a "real breakthrough" in the efforts of U.S. resisters to remain in Canada.
"This is very good â it will have an impact on all the other cases," Zaslofsky told The Canadian Press.
"What it shows is that people in authority in Canada are taking very seriously what's going on with these war resisters."
The case is set for a hearing in February.