Dr. Arthur Porter, accused Canadian fraudster, injured in Panamanian prison riot
Dr. Arthur Porter, accused Canadian fraudster, injured in Panamanian prison riot
Arthur Porter hurt while escaping tear gas, police bullets, says family
By John Nicol, Dave Seglins, CBC News Posted: Aug 13, 2014 6:11 PM ET| Last Updated: Aug 13, 2014 10:19 PM ET
Arthur Porter, the man at the centre of an alleged $22.5 million bribery and kickback scandal involving the McGill University Hospital was trampled during a violent prison riot in Panama last Friday, according to his family and fellow inmates.
They say prison officers inexplicably opened fire with shotguns and tear gas during a routine search of overcrowded Cellblock 6 of the notorious La Joya prison outside Panama City.
Dr. Porter, former executive director of the McGill University Health Centre and a former head of Canada's spy watchdog agency, has been languishing in that section of the prison reserved for foreign nationals ever since his arrest May 27, 2013 at the airport in Panama City on an international warrant. He is fighting a request by Quebec police for his extradition back to Canada for his alleged role in one of the largest frauds in Canadian history.
"He was shot in the face with tear gas, and then he tried to crawl to the stairs to escape, and he got trampled on, which damaged his leg, and then he lost consciousness," Gemma Porter, the eldest of Porter's four daughters, told CBC News. It marks the first time a member of the Porter family has spoken publicly about the arrest and incarceration of Porter, a member of Canada’s Privy Council, who says he has been fighting lung cancer since the fall of 2012.
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