Human smuggling suspects bail hearing adjourned
By STEVE BRUCE Court Reporter
The Halifax Chronicle Herald
Wed, Jul 21 – 5:03 AM
A bail hearing for one of two Ukrainian men who allegedly tried to smuggle eight people into Canada on a sailboat did not resume Tuesday as planned.
Mykola Tyshkivskyy, 46, has applied for his release pending trial on an Immigration and Refugee Protection Act charge.
The bail hearing in Halifax provincial court got underway before Judge Michael Sherar on June 29. Lawyers were supposed to make their final submissions Tuesday, but defence counsel Pavel Boubnov got the matter adjourned again until Aug. 10.
Boubnov said he is working closely with the Ukrainian Embassy, which is “deeply concerned” about his clients situation and might help with a release plan.
“We simply need more time,” Boubnov said.
Tyshkivskyy and Vasyl Aksenin, 26, are both charged with organizing, inducing, aiding or abetting the entry into Canada of people without proper documentation. The maximum penalty for the offence is 10 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
They were charged after a 13-metre sailboat was intercepted off Shelburne on June 19.
Both men are being held at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth. Aksenin has a bail hearing scheduled for July 30.
The other people on the boat are being dealt with by immigration officials. It is believed they have all applied for refugee status.
(sbruce@herald.ca)
