Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Airdrie, Alta. (Jan 07/02) - Falsely accused of rape, uprooted from his Inuvik home and thrown in jail for crimes he didn't commit, Herman Kaglik is a man in recovery.

Almost 10 years since the first of three false accusations turned his world into a living nightmare, Kaglik, 44, is rebuilding a life for himself in Airdrie, Alta., where he lives with his fiancee and five children in a blended family.

His problems began in 1992 when his niece, 37 at the time, accused him of rape. A jury found him guilty and he served four-and-a- half years in Yellowknife and at federal penitentiaries in Bowden and Drumheller, Alta., before DNA tests cleared him Kaglik was awarded $1.1 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction in December 2000.

How has it been, adjusting to life outside of jail?

HK: Being in prison for four- and-a-half years, you adapt to prison lifestyle, and when you get out you continue to live the prison lifestyle, and think the prison lifestyle.

I went through a lot of personal problems. I talked to various counsellors and seen various doctors and tried to come to terms with what happened, within myself. I got out in 1997, and it's 2002 now and I'm still dealing with personal problems.

Can you tell me what it was like in prison?

HK: When you're in jail, you have to fight every day that you're there -- either you fight or you die, and I chose to fight.

You're told when to go to bed, when to go to your cell, when to visit, when to make phone calls. They tell you exactly what you're going to do on a daily basis.

When you're in prison for four-and-a-half years for something you didn't do, you develop an anger that stays with you when you get out. When you get out, you assume no matter what you say, people still don't believe what you're saying. Those issues I've had to deal with.

Do you think it was more difficult for you because you maintained your innocence?

HK: Yes, you certainly do have a harder time. Counsellors, doctors, psychologists and parole officers, they told me to admit my guilt, take the programs and I'd be released (on parole) at my one-third time.

My mother died May 30, 1996, when I was in prison. I made numerous requests to go and see her before she died because the doctors told me she was terminal. I made requests to Correctional Services Canada and they told me, no, since I hadn't admitted guilt, I was at a high risk to re-offend. When she died, I made applications to go to the funeral and they turned me down. They said, 'You're from there and we're concerned you will escape into the Delta.'

I was very close to my mother always and I still carry around a lot of resentment and animosity towards, I guess part of the system, and some (parole board staff) who said they didn't want me there.

What kind of effect did your incarceration have on your family? Did you ever have problems convincing your kids you were innocent?

HK: My immediate family always knew I was innocent. I didn't have problems convincing my kids I was innocent. But it was very traumatic for them. They had to deal with the people I grew up with, and worked with that they knew. One of my children's best friends tell her, 'Your dad's in jail so I can't hang around with you any more.' I think of all that's happened, they've suffered the most.

How about your relatives? The woman who accused you was the daughter of your eldest sister. How was your relationship with your extended family affected?

HK: One sister stood by me the whole time. But with everyone else, it was the old 'I'm not sure what happened, I don't know what to say.'

Have you been back to Inuvik since you were released from jail?

HK: I was back on several occasions just to see my sister and one of my brothers, but up until about a year ago, I had no desire to talk to any of (my other relatives), and have any contact with them. But family is family -- if you have a feud going, it causes personal problems. To come to terms with my well-being, I had to go and talk to them.

I was willing to reconcile and make amends, but I didn't ask for apologies or ask anyone to believe me. I think the key people involved here, like my eldest sister, we made amends and we started being a family again. After we talked, it released some of the tension, some of the stress.

There was a couple people who I spoke to who still put the blame on me, and you have to decide if they matter or not.

How do you feel now about the woman who made the accusations against you? Have you forgiven her?

HK: I suppose I haven't really forgiven her, but even when she was alive, I felt sorry for her. She had a lot of problems. She's dead, so how do you have anger for someone who doesn't exist any more?

Did you ever have a chance to ask her why she accused you?

HK: No. I still wonder about it.

Would you ever move back to Inuvik?

HK: I don't know. I was born and raised in Inuvik and I never had plans to move anywhere further than Whitehorse.

I feel very uprooted. I miss all the winter stuff that I grew up with like skidooing and hunting and going out fishing.

But after what's happened and what I've been through and my kids have been through, I had no desire to go back.