Calgary doctor denied bail by judge for alleged child abduction for two years

The Calgary Courts Centre pictured in Calgary, Monday, May 6, 2024.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — A Calgary man accused of abducting his son and leading police on a global chase from Asia to the South Pacific over two years has been denied bail.

Justice Peter Barley agreed with the Crown prosecutor that 62-year-old Muhammad Zia-Ur Rahman represents a flight risk.

“I do not think I could prevent Turkey or Pakistan from issuing a passport to the accused,” Barley told Rahman, who appeared at the hearing on Monday via video link wearing a blue prison jumpsuit.

“The accused could obtain a replacement passport, book a flight that same day and be gone before anyone was aware.

“I order that the accused be detained.”

Barley also noted Rahman is charged with one count of parental abduction and knows where his ex-wife and family lives.

None of the accusations have been proven in court. Details of bail hearings are normally under publication ban, but none was imposed in this case.

Rahman is accused of taking his son, then five years old, in December 2023.

Rahman was captured last month at an airport in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, and brought back to Calgary on Jan. 17.

Police say the boy, now seven, was reunited with his mother just before Christmas.

The bail hearing heard that Rahman, a physician, was being hounded for $1.6 million for an overpayment by Alberta Health when he fled and, while on the lam, taught the boy to hate his mom.

The Crown alleges Rahman extensively planned the abduction, including forging documents, transferring more than half a million dollars overseas, buying property in other countries and trying to create a new identity for his son.

Investigators believe the pair first went to Turkey then hopped to other countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan and Vanuatu.

“The accused has multiple citizenships in countries that do not have extradition agreements with Canada,” Crown prosecutor Colin Schulhauser told court last Friday.

The search for Rahman involved partnerships with several organizations including the RCMP, Global Affairs Canada, the Canadian Central Authority and Interpol, which sent out international alerts for both the father and the child that ultimately led to the arrest.

He is scheduled back in court Feb. 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2026.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press