Woman wanted in Canada denied bail

A woman who Canadian authorities are seeking to have extradited from Jamaica was denied bail when she appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday.

Laila Salam Sezin is being charged with eight counts of disobeying court orders, failure to comply, two counts of abduction by a parent, forgery, uttering forged documents and obstructing a police officer.

On behalf of the government of Canada, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, represented by Jeremy Taylor Q.C. and Gavin Forbes, revealed the allegations against Sezin to Senior Parish judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montague.

Sezin and her husband were married in Bangladesh on September 23, 2018. He migrated to Canada and filed for her. She joined him that November. But in July 2019, the couple separated while she was pregnant and the husband withdrew his in-country spousal application. Sezin was not able to secure a job in Canada or receive social assistance.

On March 2020, the couple's child was born and Sezin initiated proceedings in the family court, seeking spousal support, child support and child access. Between April 2020 and March 29, 2021 it is alleged that Sezin breached several court orders, which granted the father access and parental time with the child. Between November 9, 2020 and March 29, 2021, the father was only able to see his child four times.

On March 29, 2021 a Canadian court ordered that the father must have access to the child every Sunday beginning on April 4 but it did not happen and a report was made to the police. Sezin was arrested and charged. Another order was subsequently made and she reportedly disobeyed.

The father was granted a temporary order with full custody of the child. But on July 19, the police received information that Sezin had left Canada on July 11, on a flight destined to Jamaica. She was arrested on October 4 by police at the Sangster International Airport in St James as she was trying to board a flight to Germany.

Sezin's attorney, Precilla Jennings, told Cole-Montague that her client suffers from illnesses including anaemia and diabetes. She proposed that her client was a fit candidate for bail, as she only requires health care.

However Cole-Montague denied Sezin bail on the grounds that she is a flight risk and that charges are serious. She is expected to return to court on December 15.