By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
PETER Nygard’s lawyers expressed concerns for his health and safety while urging appellate judges in Canada to quash an order to extradite the former fashion mogul to the United States to face sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
The hearing before the Manitoba Court of Appeal took place on Wednesday.
Nygard, 81, was arrested in Winnipeg in December 2020 after US authorities charged him with sex trafficking and racketeering offences allegedly springing from “a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States, The Bahamas and Canada, among other locations”.
He was imprisoned in Headingley Correctional Centre in Canada and later transferred to the Toronto South Detention Centre where he remains in custody.
He is also facing nine counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement in Toronto connected to allegations from the late 1980s and mid-2000s, according to Canadian media reports.
Nygard cannot be extradited to the US until his court cases in Canada have been settled.
His legal team have sought assurances from federal Justice Minister David Lametti that Nygard will not be held in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in New York, citing “terrible” conditions at the facility, which they claim could affect Nygard’s health.
They have also reportedly requested assurance that, if convicted, Nygard will not be involuntarily or indefinitely imprisoned after serving a sentence.
His lawyers also expressed concerns about Nygard’s racketeering charge, telling the appellate court their client only agreed to stand trial for sex trafficking offences when he decided to be extradited to the US.
They believe the racketeering charge shouldn’t be considered because Canada has no comparable offence.
Nygard, who has maintained his innocence, waived his appearance at last week’s hearing.
Lawyers for the federal minister of justice acknowledged Nygard’s concerns, saying the minister would consider them before making a decision.
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