Troubles began after Olympian alleged wrongful spending at Via Rail, Mazhari says

Rhéal Séguin

Myriam Bédard and her common-law spouse were on the verge of returning home to Montreal from the United States when an international warrant was issued for her arrest on a parental custodial kidnapping charge, a jury heard yesterday.

Nima Mazhari testified at Ms. Bédard's child abduction trial that on the day the arrest warrant was issued, he went to the office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C., with Ms. Bédard and her daughter to ask what they should do and to show that they were not on the run.

Mr. Mazhari later told reporters that the trial was part of the "harassment" against the couple that began when Ms. Bédard, an Olympic gold medalist, made allegations in 2004 of wrongful spending by her former employer Via Rail in connection with the sponsorship scandal.

In October, 2006, the couple left Montreal with Ms. Bédard's daughter and drove to Washington, D.C., as part of a campaign to decry the "injustices" against them and the "bureaucratic terrorism" in Canada.

"We wanted to denounce the injustices imposed on our lives," Mr. Mazhari explained to reporters, saying that he wanted an end to the "nightmare."

"With the sponsorship scandal and all that we've had to live through, it's incredible .... We experienced all kinds of harassment," he told reporters.

In court, Mr. Mazhari testified that the couple had intended to leave for only "two or three weeks." He said that from Oct. 3 to Dec. 22, 2006, the three of them and their pet dog moved from one hotel room to another.

The girl's father, Jean Paquet, testified this week that when it appeared that they were not returning home soon, he feared he would never see his daughter again. After several failed attempts to find out when his daughter would be returning home, Mr. Paquet filed a complaint with the Quebec City police.

Mr. Mazhari, who was convicted in June of art theft, testified that on Dec. 14, 2006, the day the arrest warrant was issued, the couple visited the University of Maryland. He said they were returning to Montreal in time for Ms. Bédard's daughter to celebrate her 12th birthday on Dec. 22.

"On Dec. 14, we were returning to Montreal. Myriam insisted that we stop in Maryland so that [her daughter] could play the piano .... At the library, on the Internet, she learned that an arrest warrant had been issued against her," Mr. Mazhari said. "We went to the FBI offices in downtown Washington and asked them what we should do."

According to Mr. Mazhari, the FBI agent he spoke with knew nothing about the arrest warrant. He said the agent took down information on his car's registration, the plate numbers and his cellular phone number. Mr. Mazhari could not remember the name of the FBI agent he spoke to.

"We thought it was a joke. But we wanted to make sure. The FBI told us they didn't know anything about it," Mr. Mazhari told the court. When asked by Crown attorney Josée Lemieux why the couple didn't immediately drive back to Montreal, Mr. Mazhari said he believed that by contacting the FBI "he wouldn't have trouble with the Americans."

"The next day we returned to the FBI office and they said they would contact us if anything came up," Mr. Mazhari said.

Ms. Bédard was arrested on Dec. 22, and spent the Christmas holidays in a Maryland detention centre. She was extradited to Canada in early January where she was released on bail.

The prosecution will wrap up its case this morning. Ms. Bédard's lawyer, John Pepper Jr., said his client could be called to testify on her own behalf as early as today.

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