en.killbait.com
Alberta appeal court grants extension for refugee convicted of drug trafficking and sexual assault to challenge guilty pleas
An Alberta Court of Appeal justice has granted Mahir Yahya Sharif additional time to appeal his 2022 criminal convictions, citing unique circumstances that could affect his deportation. Sharif, a permanent resident who arrived in Canada as a Convention refugee in 2019 at age 19, pleaded guilty to trafficking significant quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl, as well as sexual assault and other offences. He has already served three years. Immigration officials later declared him a danger to the public and ordered his removal to Somalia, a country he has never lived in and whose language he does not speak. Born in Saudi Arabia to Somali parents and raised partly in an Egyptian refugee camp, Sharif has a history of schizophrenia worsened by substance use that began after his arrival in Canada. Justice Kevin Feth ruled that denying the extension would impose an unduly punitive outcome, as Sharif maintains he was not properly advised by his lawyer that the convictions and sentence length would render him inadmissible and subject to deportation without a right of appeal. Sharif claims he would not have pleaded guilty had he understood the immigration consequences, fearing imprisonment or death in Somalia due to his clan background and inability to speak Somali. The court noted shortcomings in the ministerial delegate’s danger opinion, including insufficient consideration of Sharif’s mental health, Somalia’s reported refusal to accept individuals with diagnosed mental illnesses, the lack of travel documents, and security risks posed by groups such as Al-Shabaab. Previous attempts to challenge the removal order in Federal Court and the Ontario Court of Appeal were unsuccessful, though the latter expressed concern about the harshness of deporting someone with significant ongoing care needs. Sharif remains in custody and intends to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The decision underscores tensions between criminal accountability, mental-health considerations, and Canada’s refugee and immigration obligations.