A federal court justice in British Colombia has ruled in favour of deporting war resister Robin Long to the U.S.
Long fled an army base in Fort Knox, Kentucky, for Ontario in 2005.[rssbreak]
The impending deportation of Long is a giant-sized setback in the movement to allow war resisters to stay in Canada.
It was something of an eleventh-hour appeal for Long, a 25-year-old former soldier who has been fighting to stay in the country legally more or less since his arrival. Madame Justice Anne Mactavish dismissed Long’s attempt to the delay the deportation process with further appeals.
It’s been reported that Justice Mactavish cited 94% of U.S. army deserters who have been dealt with without a court martial or prison time. Also included in the four-page summary of the ruling:
“While the American Universal [sic] Code of Military Justice allows for the theoretical possibility of a sentence of death for desertion, the last time a deserter was sentenced to death was during the Second World War. Mr. Long has not provided clear and non-speculative evidence to support his contention that he would be singled out for hard treatment by Americans because of the publicity associated with the case.”
Despite the ruling, support for war resisters gained some steam recently with public opinion swaying toward accepting resisters and delays in sending other resisters home.
