A lawyer for a New Brunswick potato farmer jailed in Lebanon is calling on the federal justice minister to charge his client.
Henk Tepper was arrested in March on an Interpol warrant issued by Algeria. That country's government wants the Drummond farmer extradited to face charges of importing potatoes unfit for human consumption.
Rod Gillis, Tepper's lawyer, said asking federal Justice Minister Robert Nicholson for a Canadian arrest warrant is a desperate measure.
"That's an extreme step,"he told reporters on Tuesday.
"Then the Lebanese government, I believe, would release my client so that he could come back to Canada and make a full answer and defence to these statements or charges that are unfounded."
The potato farmer has been in a Beirut jail for nearly three months. He operates Tobique Farms, which at 1,214 hectares is one of New Brunswick's largest producers.
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