The man charged with holding Amanda Lindhout hostage in Somalia for 460 days has been found guilty, nearly nine years after the Canadian journalist was kidnapped. Ali Omar Ader, a 40-year-old Somali national, was found guilty on one charge of hostage-taking for his role as a negotiator. During his testimony in the witness box in October, Ader said he himself was taken hostage by the same group that held Lindhout, and pushed into service as a Somali-English translator under duress. The Crown dismissed much of what the man said in court as "flagrant lies," concocted in an attempt to diminish his real involvement in the kidnapping. (John Lindhout)Before reading his decision, Smith praised Lindhout for her courage and strength while held in "deplorable conditions and subjected to extreme physical, sexual and emotional abuse."

Source: CBC News December 06, 2017 21:23 UTC