In a surprising move, Cameron Ortis — the former RCMP intelligence official found guilty late last year of leaking secret information to police targets — has declined release on bail, according to his lawyer.
Ortis was sentenced earlier this year to 14 years behind bars, minus time served. He was granted bail in April pending appeal but remains in custody.
It was widely expected that Ortis, the former director general of the RCMP’s National Intelligence Coordination Centre, would be released on bail.
But lawyer Jon Doody said in an email that Ortis declined bail because he felt the conditions imposed by house arrest would place a heavy burden on his parents. He has been in custody since his conviction, Doody said.
The news of his bail decision was first reported in a special piece for the National Post written by “a friend of a friend of Cameron Ortis.”
The article, which defends Ortis and claims a “Kafkaesque miscarriage of justice” has been carried out, also reported that the provincial legal aid service has denied Ortis’s application for funding for his appeal.
Doody said he intends to bring an application seeking funding to the Court of Appeal.
Both sides are appealing elements of the case.
Ortis has maintained his innocence. His lawyers filed an appeal seeking an acquittal, arguing he never got a fair trial due to the limitations imposed on his trial by national security law.
The Crown — which was seeking two consecutive sentences totalling 28 years in prison — is appealing the 14-year sentence, arguing the judge “erred by imposing a sentence that was demonstrably unfit, given the gravity of the offences and moral blameworthiness of the offender.”
Ortis was found guilty in November of all six charges against him, including one of violating Canada’s secrets act. It was the first time charges under the Security of Information Act were tested in court.