Nick Chan on hunger strike at Calgary Remand Centre again
Meghan Grant | CBC News | Posted: January 16, 2016 12:19 AM | Last Updated: January 16, 2016
Suspected gang leader has been protesting conditions in jail for more than a decade
Suspected gang leader and accused murderer Nick Chan is once again protesting what he believes to be unfair conditions at the Calgary Remand Centre.
Chan is on another hunger strike, according to CBC sources, although his reasons this time around aren't clear.
Believed to be the former leader of the FOB gang in Calgary, Chan has repeatedly complained over the last decade about life behind bars as he awaits his criminal trials.
- MORE CALGARY NEWS | Nurses who breached privacy 'should be let go,' brother of deceased woman says
- MORE CALGARY NEWS | Teen skier in life-threatening condition after crash at Nakiska
Chan made an allegation of excessive force by guards in 2003, which was at the centre of a lawsuit filed two years later.
After he was found guilty of trafficking heroin, Chan also made 38 complaints related to his pre-trial imprisonment.
Contributing to his hardships were the indoor air quality, food quality, access to fresh air and privacy.
Chan told the judge he believed life without cable television and CBC radio should justify enhanced credit for the time he had already served.
At a hearing before Justice John Moore to argue for enhanced credit based on those complaints, the judge fell asleep.
Chan's lawyer, Tom Engle, then made an application for a mistrial.
Moore recused himself and Justice Peter McIntyre stepped in, awarding Chan three days credit for each day he had served based on his mistreatment.
Chan is at the remand centre awaiting two trials — including one for murder — on Feb. 22, 2016, and in October 2017.