Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is refuting claims they’ve neglected an Ontario man remains locked in an African jail.
“Canadian officials continue to provide assistance to the individual as they would for any Canadian detained abroad,” Joshua Zanin, the director of communications for the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs, told Global News Saturday.
“This assistance should not be construed as a belief of his guilt or innocence.”
But Zanin wouldn’t say what kind of contact Canadian officials have had with Aaron Yoon, the 24-year-old man London, Ont. native now being held in a Mauritanian jail, who some believe may have been involved in the attacks.
This contradicts claims Yoon made in an interview the CBC broadcast Friday. In the excerpts, Yoon said he had been held for the past two years, had been tortured and beaten behind bars, and that the Canadian government had failed to assist him.
He also said he didn’t know how the two Canadians killed in Algeria earlier this year had become linked with militants. The CBC says he denied being involved in terrorist activities.
Yoon is believed to have travelled overseas with Ali Medlej and Xristos Katsiroubas, the two men whose bodies were found at the site of the Algerian gas plant siege.
All three men were from London, Ont.
RCMP were called in to help Algerian authorities with their investigation of the siege that killed at least 38 hostages and 27 other militants.
Police held a news conference this week saying investigators are continuing to gather evidence and determine the circumstances that led to Medlej and Katsiroubas departing Canada.
They have asked members of the public to contact them if they have any information about individuals leaving Canada to take part in terrorism plots.
Medlej and Katsiroubas are believed to have played key roles in the January attack.
Police have released no other details about the pair or about other potential suspects for fear it could end up compromising the investigation.
With files from The Canadian Press
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