Former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe is asking a judge to lift sanctions Canada imposed on him for alleging he supported gangs that sparked a humanitarian crisis in Haiti.

Mr Lamothe filed a motion in federal court in Montreal on Thursday, arguing that the sanctions were an arbitrary decision that did not give him an opportunity to present his version of the facts.

He is asking to have his name removed from the sanctions list and to have the documents Ottawa used to make his decision.

In recent months, Canada has imposed sanctions on 13 members of Haiti’s political and business elite and frozen all Canadian assets they own in an attempt to stem the flow of money and arms to criminal organizations.

Violent and belligerent gangs have seized control of the capital, Port-au-Prince, sexually abusing women and children while restricting access to healthcare, electricity and clean water.

The Liberals say their sanctions are aimed at isolating the political leaders who created the conditions for the chaos to seek consensus in Haiti on how foreign governments can help.

Haiti’s unelected prime minister has called for international military intervention to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and create favorable conditions for elections. The United States argued that Canada would be an ideal country to lead such a force.

However, the prime minister Justin Trudeau responded that Ottawa did not want to conduct another failed intervention in Haiti after numerous United Nations operations to stabilize the country.

Foreign Secretary Mélanie Joly sanctioned Mr Lamothe on November 17, along with two others whom Ottawa accused of “using their status as former or current public office holders to protect and restrict the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs, including through money laundering enable and other acts of corruption”.

Lamothe has publicly denied being disciplined after learning the news on social media and said he worked to curb organized crime in Haiti during his tenure as prime minister from mid-2012 to late 2014.

His lawyer argues that “the Foreign Secretary’s recommendation is therefore unfounded, either in law or in fact.”

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