Disgraced former general Daniel Menard released from Afghan jail

Brig. Gen. Daniel Menard, commander of Canada's Task Force Afghanistan, stands by a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) in Kandahar Province, southern Afghanistan, Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010. (AP / Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Disgraced former brigadier-general Daniel Menard has been released from an Afghan jail after being held on gun-running charges while working in Afghanistan for a private security firm, CTV News has learned.

CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson reported Tuesday that Menard has been released after spending several weeks in an Afghan jail. He was working as the head of Afghanistan operations for GardaWorld at the time of his arrest.

Menard has been with GardaWorld since Nov. 2011, according to his profile on the company’s website. As part of the job, Menard oversees GardaWorld’s “commercial, operations and projects throughout the country, including existing and new contracts with the U.S. government, non-governmental and commercial clients.”

It is not uncommon for foreign contractors to be jailed due to government corruption.

The disgraced former general led Canadian Forces in Afghanistan before being stripped of his command and sent home in June 2010 after an affair with a subordinate came to light.

Menard resigned in November 2010 and left the military the following month.

In July 2011, he was fined $7,000 and demoted to colonel after pleading guilty to improper relations with a corporal under his command and obstruction of justice for trying to impede an investigation into the affair.