A New Brunswick family is calling on former U.S. President Bill Clinton to intervene in the case of a potato farmer being held in Lebanon.

Henk Tepper was taken into custody on an Interpol warrant when he arrived in Lebanon in March. The 44-year-old Drummond man has been detained in a squalid jail cell since March 23.

His sister, Harmien Dionne, has just returned from visiting him.

"When he arrived in Beirut and they swiped his passport, the red alert notice came up," she tells CTV.

She says the Interpol warrant was issued at the request of Algerian officials, who claim Tepper sold them rotten potatoes.

"My brother Henk is not a criminal, he doesn't belong behind those bars, so it was very emotional," says Dionne. "But when I saw Henk I saw so much strength in him, he was so focused and so determined, I had to stay strong as well."

Henk Tepper's lawyer, Rod Gillis, plans to raise the matter in a meeting with Clinton in Fredericton on Wednesday.

Clinton and former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna will be at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton Wednesday afternoon for a speaking event, and both Gillis and Dionne hope they may be able to help.

"Right now we'd take anything…Anybody that can help my brother and have him come back to Canada," says Dionne.

Gillis says Tepper has told him he has received little help from the Canadian Embassy and he plans to bring this up with Ottawa after his client is back in Canada.

"We will ask the government in particular under the Access to Information Act for a lot of information and those individuals and those bureaucrats that have failed to do something may have to explain it," says Gillis.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says Canadian officials in Lebanon are actively providing assistance and support to Tepper and are monitoring his health and welfare.

But Tepper's family isn't so sure. Dionne feels the government could be doing more to help her brother.

"I do feel let down, I feel like my brother is being let down and I know that the government can do it," says Dionne.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Andy Campbell