An Edmonton man wanted in the United States on terrorism charges freely offered up his side of the story during 10 hours of interviews with Canadian and American interrogators, a Crown prosecutor told an Edmonton courtroom Friday.
Court of Queen's Bench Justice Adam Germaine is tasked with deciding if Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, 40, will be extradited to the United States to face charges of murdering five American soldiers in Iraq.
Sharif, a Canadian citizen, is accused of aiding in the murder of the soldiers who were killed on April 10, 2009, when a truck filled with explosives blew up near the gate of Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul, Iraq.
All week Germaine has been hearing arguments over whether Sharif's comments to police were made voluntarily and his rights respected.
During the interviews, first by the RCMP, followed by the U.S. Department of Justice, no officer raises his voice or touches Sharif in any way.
The Crown points out that whenever Sharif asks for food, water or a break his request is granted.
Sharif also got to spend half an hour on the phone with a lawyer to get advice before the interviews began, the prosecutor pointed out.
However Sharif asks for his lawyer a number of times throughout the later questioning and those requests were never granted.
It's expected Sharif's lawyer will argue Friday afternoon that those denials violated his rights.
Sharif is also known as Faruq Khalil Muhammad 'Isa or Tahir Sharif Sayfildin, according to U.S. authorities.
He is an ethnic Kurd born in Iraq, who came to Canada in 1993, living in Toronto briefly before moving to Edmonton.