WINNIPEG -- A former fashion executive facing extradition to the United States on multiple charges including sex trafficking is appealing a Manitoba judge’s decision to keep him behind bars.
Peter Nygard, 79, is currently being held in protective custody at the Headingley Correctional Centre.
According to an affidavit filed Friday by the jail’s assistant superintendent of security, Nygard has his own cell, a TV and a phone in his cell which he can use between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. No other inmate has similar phone access, the assistant superintendent testified.
In a virtual hearing Thursday in the Manitoba Court of Appeal, Nygard’s lawyers argued their client should be released from custody while awaiting an extradition hearing.
Court heard Nygard listened to the hearing from jail.
Nygard’s lawyers argue the bail judge was unfairly critical of Nygard’s release plan.
Nygard’s lawyers are proposing a beefed-up bail plan which would include monitoring his computers, phone call and text messages.
Brian Greenspan, one of Nygard’s lawyers, told court his client’s presumption of innocence has been undermined in court documents filed by U.S. authorities. Greenspan argued they contain inflammatory and extreme allegations.
He told court pre-trial detention should be a last resort.
None of the allegations against Nygard have been tested in court and he’s presumed innocent.
Justice Jennifer Pfuetzner of the Manitoba Court of Appeal reserved her decision for a later date.
-With files from The Canadian Press
