The Canadian government said Sunday it was "disappointed" by the UK's decision to withdraw British citizenship from Jack Letts, a 24-year-old nicknamed "Jihadi Jack" who joined the Islamic State in Syria in 2014. Jack Letts was a dual British Canadian citizen.
No "retaliatory diplomacy"
"Canada is disappointed that the United Kingdom has taken this unilateral step to discharge its responsibilities," said a spokesman for the Canadian Ministry of Public Security Sunday in a statement. Ottawa did not provide more details about Jack Letts, noting that he could not "comment on specific cases or operational issues of national security".
"Although we are disappointed with their decision, we are not retaliating diplomacy," the spokesman said in response to a "false" Ottawa reaction reported by British media.
While Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet his British counterpart Boris Johnson at the G7 summit in France next weekend, the two countries continue to "work closely on a number of issues, including the situation in Hong Kong," he said. "The government is aware that Canadian citizens are currently being held in Syria and there is no legal obligation to facilitate their return," the statement added.
Captured in May 2014
Jack Letts, who converted to Islam, left his family home in Oxfordshire County, England, in May 2014. From Jordan, he went to Kuwait and got married in Iraq before going to Syria. He was captured in May 2017 by Kurdish forces as he tried to flee to Turkey and has since been detained in northern Syria.
In an interview with ITV in February, Jack Letts said he wanted to return to the UK. "I'm not going to say I'm innocent, I'm not innocent, I deserve what's happening to me, but I just want it to be ... appropriate ... not a 'freestyle' punishment in Syria," he said.
UK "fleeing responsibilities"
The London government "is shunning its responsibilities and passing the baby back to the Canadians," Jack Letts' father, John Letts, told Channel 4 News on Sunday. "I believed that British citizens had certain rights, that they were presumed innocent, that they were entitled to a trial, to freedom of speech," he regretted.
"It's a real shock that our government can do this to you without any recourse or discussion," added her mother, Sally Lane, pointing out that her son has "no access to a lawyer". "The Canadian government has told us that it will spare no effort to bring him home," she added.
John Letts and Sally Lane, convicted in June of financing terrorism for sending him money to Syria, were sentenced to suspended prison terms. "Jihadi Jack" is the last known case of disqualification of British nationality in connection with departures to join the Islamic State organization.