Fugitive Canadian priest in Belgian custody

A Canadian Catholic priest who is wantedon charges ofsex crimes against children has been taken into custody by immigration authorities in Belgium, where he has been living for over 15 years.

Rev. Eric Dejaeger, 63,was detained this week because he has overstayed his legal residency in Belgium, an official from the Belgian Foreign Affairs Ministry told CBC News on Wednesday.

Dejaeger is on Interpol's list of wanted fugitives based on an arrest warrant issued by the Nunavut Court of Justice in 2002.

He is currently wanted on six charges three counts of indecent assault on a male and three counts of buggery related to alleged incidents between 1978 and 1982 in Igloolik, a remote Arctic community in what is now Nunavut.

A Canadian citizen, Dejaeger has been living freely in Belgium since 1995, after he had served prison time in Canada for sex crimes against children in Baker Lake, another Nunavut community.

The Belgian government official, who did not want to be named, said Dejaeger had not applied for permanent residency in Belgium.

Dejaeger is currently in a detention centre for illegal residents. The government official said Dejaeger will likely be expelled from Belgium, but he could not say when that would happen.

May not be broughtto Canada

"According to the law, he should be expelled. So I surely hope that the law will be followed and he will be sent back to Canada," said Lieve Halsberghe, who leads a Belgian network of church sex-abuse victims.

But Dejaeger could potentially be expelled to another country instead, depending on how he had entered Belgium in the first place, said Gary Botting, a B.C.-based lawyer who specializes in extradition issues.

"How did he enter Belgium? If he entered from France, for example, he could be deported back to France. If he entered through Holland, he could be deported back to Holland," Botting said.

Even if Belgium wants to expel him to Canada, Botting said Dejaeger could demand that he be formally extradited, which would be a more complicated process than simply expelling him.

Canadian justice officials have declined to comment on Dejaeger's case, maintaining that extradition requests are confidential.

But Belgian officials have said they are having informal talks with Canada about Dejaeger's possible extradition.