Mother fights for son in Syrian prison

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/03/2023 (917 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Being jailed indefinitely in a foreign country would be a nightmare for anyone. In Reasonable Cause to Suspect, British Canadian Sally Lane relates a compelling story of her fight to have her son, Jack Letts, released from prison in Syria and brought to Canada, in keeping with the principles of justice and the rule of law.

Lane was born in London before moving to Toronto with her family as a teenager. She earned a degree in French and history from the University of Western Ontario and then relocated to Oxford, England, where she worked as a copy editor and charity fundraiser. She and her husband, John Letts, were prosecuted in the United Kingdom under terrorism legislation and received suspended sentences. Currently, she lives in Ottawa.

In January 2023, the Federal Court ordered the Canadian government to repatriate four Canadian men, including Jack Letts, from prisons in Syria where they were being held as suspected Islamic State (IS) terrorists. Lane’s book ends before the court decision was made, but it provides a very thorough and compelling account of the circumstances that led to that development.

Following a brief introductory chapter, Lane explains how she and her husband found themselves facing terrorism charges when they attempted to send money to their son to help him return home. In 2014, Jack had gone on a visit to a friend in Jordan and failed to return, having gone on to Syria, where he then became trapped in IS territory without the funds necessary to escape.

Over the next chapters, Lane describes the struggles she and her husband endured as they tried one tactic after another to find out what had happened to their son and to determine how they could help him. As they tried to sift through mixed messages from officials, they found themselves under arrest for trying to send money to their son to help him return home.

Dealing with their own legal problems only complicated a situation where reliable information on Jack’s welfare was difficult to find and communication often sporadic or impossible. Meanwhile, Lane had a chance to reflect on issues such as the dubious legality of many military tactics in the Middle East, as well as questions of justice and proof of guilt.

The title of the book comes from one of the issues the author encountered along the way — the ease with which people can be branded for life as terrorists. For a murder case in Britain or Canada, a conviction is supposed to be based on compelling evidence presented in court, but incarceration as a terrorist requires only a “reasonable cause to suspect.” Thus, people can be imprisoned for years without ever being convicted of a crime.

Lane writes as a mother but also as an observer of the British and Canadian legal and political systems. Democratic countries are supposed to function by the rule of law, where everyone is entitled to a fair trial — a principle that, in her estimation, officials overlooked. When Jack’s British citizenship was revoked in 2019, Lane moved to Canada and began to campaign here for her son’s release.

Although Lane ends her book before the recent developments in her son’s case, the story is still a timely and compelling account. Whether as a story of family solidarity and trust or as a case study in issues of justice and the rule of law, Reasonable Cause to Suspect is worth reading.

Susan Huebert is a Winnipeg writer, editor and pet sitter.