Since he’s been in the region, Canadians trapped in legal hell in the Dominican Republic hope to hitchhike to the home of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Fearing they would never leave the island country, a member of the flight crew detained for 120 days after drugs were discovered on his plane invited Trudeau to pick them up with the government plane after their summer vacation.
“Why not? He’s in Costa Rica, which he’s not from here,” Alexander Rozov said. “It’s been very difficult for us here. “
If Trudeau were to disembark with the Canadian plane he used to take his circle of relatives to Costa Rica, it would be the first time that the five members of the pivot Airlines flight team, detained after alerting the government that there was a bag of cocaine valued at $25 million. his 50-seat CRJ-100 airliner would have had contact with him.
“We couldn’t communicate with prime minister or foreign minister Melanie Joly,” said Rozov, who is a flight attendant. “Even my MP, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York), responded to any of my requests. “
Although the team took photographs in front of portraits of Canadian leaders on the wall of the Canadian Embassy in the Dominican Republic, they say they feel lonely, forgotten and abandoned.
Now, Rozov, Captain Robert Di Venanzo of Guelph, co-driver Aatif Safdar of Hamilton, mechanical engineer Bal Krishna Dubey of Mississauga and flight attendant Christina Carello of Brampton are making public appeals while encouraging the more than one million Canadians who take vacations a year in the Dominican to reconsider.
“Canadians decide somewhere else,” Rozov said. Here we have no rights and we feel hostage. There is no justice. We weren’t even charged or interrogated, but we spent time in prison and under space arrest.
All the fifth of April when we took off from Punta Cana to Toronto.
“We were blessed and cursed at the same time,” Rozov said. There was a light indicating that one of the doors was not properly closed, so when the mechanics went to check, they discovered a hockey bag in a position where there was no one. “you would go through and where you wouldn’t be. “
The team notified the authorities, the RCMP in Canada.
“We didn’t know what it was. Explosives?Drugs?We had no idea.
Six hours later, after local police “causally” inspected the aircraft and discovered more bags of cocaine in the aircraft compartments, the five were handcuffed and taken to a prison where they spent nine days in the same facility with local suspects. smuggling operation before being released on bail under space arrest.
Global Affairs Canada says the federal government “the first priority is the safety and security of its citizens. “
“Global Affairs Canada is aware of the incident involving Pivot Airlines in the Dominican Republic,” a spokesman said. “Canadian officials continue to monitor the scenario closely, interact with the local government and provide consular assistance. “
“For reasons of confidentiality, no data can be disclosed,” the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, for those flawed Canadians, it’s been a giant nightmare that will end.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Rozov said. We were the ones who denounced the crime. If we had, those drugs would have been imported into Canada and would be on our streets right now.
The fact is that, apart from who intended to get merit from this cocaine, this flight team are heroes. They are not treated that way.
“It’s been terrible,” he said. We don’t have freedom and many team members have young people and members of the circle of affected relatives. “
On bail, they are expected to return to a Dominican Republic on August 25.
“They didn’t accuse us of anything,” Rozov said. But we can’t make them listen to us. “
When Trudeau met with Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles on June 10, the team expected something to happen.
“All of that said that the judicial procedure would be followed,” Rozov said.
It’s been a waiting game ever since.
“This is all crazy,” Rozov said. We won threats against us and it was very stressful. “
They need to go home. They don’t know if they will ever be allowed to do so. Given that Trudeau is located 1,770 km south of Costa Rica, the team hopes their prime minister will step in and return them to their freedom.
“We would love for him to prevent and pick us up,” Rozov said.
jwarmington@postmedia. com
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