Global Affairs Canada’s headquarters at the Lester B. Pearson Building on Sussex Drive in Ottawa, on Dec. 10, 2018.Justin Tang/The Globe and Mail
The incident has caused a stir in the Zimbabwean capital, where it was widely reported in local media last week. Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said it was aware of the reports but cannot comment for privacy reasons.
The Globe and Mail has seen an official report from a Harare police station, giving details of the complaint by the executive assistant, Jennifer Boudreau, who visited the police station last Wednesday.
Ms. Boudreau, a Canadian who is an 18-year GAC employee, told police that an embassy employee entered her home illegally with a duplicate key on Dec. 6 when she was working at the embassy. The employee ordered a security guard at her home not to record the entry in his security logbook, she said.
She said the employee entered her bedroom, removed a hard drive from a security recorder in her bedroom closet, and replaced it with a blank hard drive. She said she discovered the incident when she returned home and noticed an open wardrobe door. The security guard initially denied that anyone had entered, but eventually disclosed it to her, she told the police.
Ms. Boudreau said she reported the incident to the Canadian ambassador, Adler Aristilde, and he told her that he had authorized the entry. She said she reported the incident to GAC headquarters and later took it to the police because of a delay in the department’s investigation of the matter.
In their report, the Zimbabwean police said they are investigating Ms. Boudreau’s complaint against Mr. Aristilde and two other embassy employees, describing it as an allegation of “unlawful entry in aggravating circumstances.”
John Babcock, a GAC spokesperson, said the department is aware of the report. “Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be shared,” he told The Globe.
“We ensure that all correct processes are followed, with the health and safety of our employees as our top priority.”
Ms. Boudreau, contacted by The Globe, said the department had ordered her back to Ottawa early last week, before her visit to the police, and she returned to Ottawa on Friday.
She confirmed that she had visited a Harare police station to file the report and sign it. Her biggest concern about the incident, she said, was the “cover up, conspiracy, collusion” at the embassy and the department when she reported the entry into her home.
The video recordings on the hard drive were from four motion-activated security cameras on the outside of her home, which she rents from the Canadian government, she told The Globe.
The Canadian employee who entered her home was a security official whose job is to ensure the safety of embassy employees as they move around the Zimbabwean capital, she said. “There was no emergency, no security breach, until he breached my security.”
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