LCCC Report on Bruce Balfour's case
AUGUST 21/2003

Lebanon should immediately drop the "trumped up" charges against Bruce Balfour,
OTTAWA - Liberal MP Irwin Cotler says Lebanon should immediately drop the "trumped up" charges against Bruce Balfour, an evangelical Christian from Calgary, after a military court again postponed its verdict. Yesterday, judges granted the prosecution in the trial a second postponement to call witnesses. Mr. Balfour is accused of spying for Israel

Canadian Pastor Tells Beirut Court He's Not a Spy for Israel
Naharnet: Detained Canadian pastor Bruce John Balfour has pleaded not guilty to charges of spying for Israel, telling a Beirut military court his frequent visits to Lebanon since 1982 were designed to carry out cedar tree forestation projects with Canadian funding.
Balfour, 52, of Calgary, entered his not-guilty plea before the three-member tribunal at a trial session held Wednesday with English speaking Brig. Gen. Maher Saffieddin presiding. Nevertheless, the Canadian embassy appointed a translator of its own to help the defendant. He was flanked by two Lebanese defense attorneys when he was brought to Beirut's mid-city building of the military court from the central prison in suburban Roumieh without handcuffs late in the evening. Two diplomats from the Canadian embassy and consular section were present as well as the embassy's Lebanese attorney. The trial session, which ran until midnight, was highlighted by most of Beirut's 12 dailies on Thursday, but there were no pictures because newspaper and TV photographers were banned from filming.  Balfour said he was unaware that an arrest warrant has been issued for him before he arrived at Beirut airport on the latest of his trips on July 10. He had since been in custody. The defendant said he made several trips to Hizbullah-held territories in south Lebanon along the border with Israel exclusively to ready plans for cedar forestations in the region. "Were you afraid when you first met Hizbullah activists?" Judge Saffieddin asked. "No. They were very good to me," Balfour responded. The court heard the testimony of four Lebanese and one American witnesses, who were acquainted with Balfour's activities during his numerous visits to Lebanon in the past 21 years, and then adjourned to Aug. 27 to hear the defense argument and hand down the verdict. Canadian pastor Grant Livingston, 81, who is also accused of spying for Israel in collaboration with Balfour, is being tried in absentia.

Lebanon court delays verdict on Canadians accused of spying for Israel
BEIRUT, Aug 20 (AFP) - A Lebanese military court Wednesday postponed its verdict in the case of two Canadians accused of spying for Israel after prosecutors asked for time to call a new witness.
It was the second postponement that judges had granted the prosecution in the trial of the two Protestant pastors -- on August 11 the court already agreed a nine-day delay to allow time for two more witnesses to be called.
Bruce Balfour, 52, stands accused of spying for Israel, where he lives "under cover of humanitarian activities", during several visits to Lebanon.
Grant Livingstone, 81, who is being tried in absentia, is accused of aiding him.
It is alleged that Balfour made contact with the agriculture ministry and travelled to the hills of southern Lebanon with the aim of gathering information about military positions and the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah, which operates in the region.
If found guilty, the pair face three to 15 years in prison.
Canadian consul Mebs Velgi and embassy lawyer Fawzi Metni were present at Wednesday's hearing.

Canadian accused of collaborating with Israel says he's innocent
20/8/03
BEIRUT (AP) - A Canadian Christian missionary, standing trial in Lebanon on charges of collaborating with Israel, told a military tribunal Wednesday he is innocent, judicial officials said. The officials said Bruce Balfour, 52, told the military judges he had not co-operated with or given information to Israel. The officials said a verdict was expected to be announced at the next session, scheduled for Aug. 27. According to Lebanese law, collaborating with Israel is punishable by up to three years in jail. Balfour was arrested July 10 at Beirut airport on a military court order accusing him of visiting Israel and collaborating with the enemy. Lebanese Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum said last month that he received information that Balfour had travelled between Lebanon and Israel in a way that aroused suspicions and that a warrant was issued April 2 for his arrest. He was arrested upon his return to Lebanon last month. Balfour, who is now being held at a prison northeast of the Lebanese capital, is from Calgary and was in the Middle East directing an evangelical project to help replant the biblical cedar forests in northern Lebanon. Israeli troops withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, but Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war and Lebanese authorities bar any traveller carrying a passport with an Israeli stamp. It is rare, however, for such travellers to be arrested.