Articles & News

April 2, 2008

Fight over remand conditions nears end
By GLENN KAUTH, SUN MEDIA

A longstanding court action against the government over conditions at the Edmonton Remand Centre is finally reaching its conclusion in a city courtroom.

"This case has been going on since 2001," lawyer Tom Engel said yesterday.

Engel, who has been fighting the action on behalf of former inmates at the remand centre, said he was relieved to finally be making final arguments in the case.

RIGHTS CLAIM

Engel is seeking to have the court rule the government violated the inmates' constitutional rights when they were imprisoned at the city holding cells following their arrests in 1999.

The charges against them were part of a series of raids aimed at what police said was a major Alberta drug gang.

Complaints against the remand centre, which the government aims to replace with a new jail in north Edmonton, included claims of bad food, long periods of lockup, double-bunking, a lack of fresh air, lice-infested mattresses and cold showers.

Court has also heard allegations that the inhumane conditions amounted to unusual punishment and violated United Nations standards.

CHARGES STAYED

The inmates spent six months to two years in custody at the remand centre awaiting a massive trial that eventually collapsed when prosecutors stayed the charges.

The action over conditions in the centre began while the case was still underway, and once the criminal proceedings were stayed, government lawyers argued that should also be the end of the complaint over jail conditions.

The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled otherwise in 2005. It refused to halt the case, leading to the current proceedings in Edmonton.

Engel's final arguments are scheduled to last nine days.