Shaun Going

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Shaun Going is a Canadian construction engineer who was arrested in Serbia in August 2000 and charged with terrorism. A powerful figure with wide influence, he was known to have links with other leaders in the region, including the Kosovo Liberation Army, and Canada defended him, insisting on his innocence.

Going grew up on a ranch near Longview, Alberta. He started Going Real Estate, then after the collapse of the Soviet Union he created Meridian Resources in Albania. He was contracted to build the local American embassy and to work on roads and sewers. Because of his contacts, he was sometimes called "the King of Albania" for using the conflict to secure contracts, pay officials, and deal with both the government and militants. He bought the former headquarters of the Communist Party in Tirana and had security guards with AK-47s who accompanied him when he went into town. In 1997 the building was attacked and burned; Going fled to Sakhalin Island and worked in the oil industry.

Going returned to Kosovo on August 1, 1999. When UN police raided Gani Thaci's house, they found C$375,000 in cash; Thaci claimed it was a bribe from Going, who denied it, saying he had only paid $90,000 to the KLA commander.

He was arrested along with his 19-year-old nephew Liam Hall and two British police officers, Adrian Prangnell and John Yore, when a security check found blasting caps and wires in the back of their car. He was charged with training separatists to perform terrorist acts, but was released on bail as the charges were downgraded to "military spies." Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy campaigned for Serbia to release them.