Alleged Anonymous hacktivist member Matt DeHart deported to the U.S. on Sunday after his Canadian asylum request was rejected
Alleged Anonymous hacktivist group member, Matt DeHart was quietly deported to United States by Canada on Sunday and is being held at a jail in New York.
This was confirmed by his father, DeHart Sr. who told the Star that his son was transferred from an Ontario prison to the U.S. on Sunday morning, a few weeks after the family’s request for asylum in Canada was rejected.
“He assured me that he was safe. He felt confident that God would protect him,” explained Paul, who said he spoke to his son for five minutes on Sunday from Niagara County jail in Lockport, N.Y.
Matt DeHart has been charged with producing and transporting pedophilia material, an accusation he vehemently rejects.
DeHart, 30, a former U.S. soldier stated that he was tortured by United States border security team in 2010 for information regarding Wikileaks and Anonymous, which he refused to share.
DeHart’s supporters claim that he is falsely accused of the pedophilia charges and that this a classic case of U.S. government intimidating whistle-blowers with false charges.
“It is obvious that the flimsy pedophilia charges are a pretext to punish DeHart and force him to return to the U.S.,” Jesselyn Radack, a prominent whistle-blower attorney, said in a statement.
“The Obama administration has aggressively used the Espionage Act as its weapon of choice to punish national security whistleblowers, in any case that even remotely involved disclosure of allegedly-classified information.”
The DeHart family sought asylum in Canada in 2013 on the basis of the torture claim however the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board turned down their request on 5th Feb, stating that DeHart could fairly face trial in the U.S.
“We are very happy to have the light of day shine on the process, because we have always maintained Matt’s innocence. We think in that type of scrutiny that the holes in the government’s case will come to light,” Paul DeHart said about the pending case.
Tor Ekeland, a New York-based lawyer who is acting as DeHart’s pro-bono counsel stated that DeHart appeared in a federal district court on Monday afternoon in Buffalo, N.Y.
