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In court Friday, Chandler’s lawyer Michael Bolton referred to The Sun story in his application for an interim publication ban.

As of Friday’s hearing, it has been more than two years since the US requested Chandler’s extradition.

But, Bolton said, it wasn’t until this week the case received “a huge amount of publicity” because of the Sun’s coverage.

Because Chandler, 54, faces a federal felony charge in the US, it will automatically go to jury trial, Bolton said, arguing that publishing details of the case might impair Chandler’s chances at a fair trial in the US if he is eventually extradited.

The Attorney General of Canada opposed any publication ban, said John Gibb-Carsley, a lawyer with the Department of Justice Canada, who is acting on behalf of the US in the case.

A publication ban on Chandler’s case would be inappropriate, Gibb-Carsley said, citing an earlier Canadian court decision regarding a US extradition request which highlighted the right of freedom of the press, saying: “Public confidence in our judicial system is not enhanced if justice is dispensed behind closed doors and for reasons that are kept secret.”

Gibb-Carsley said an application for such a ban would normally come at the beginning of an extradition hearing. Since Chandler was arrested in May 2015, there had already been 19 court appearances in connection with the extradition request, Gibb-Carsley said, with no application for a publication ban before Friday.