Terror suspect awash in despair as he awaits deportation

posted on March 28, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Original author: Tobi Cohen Source: The Ottawa Sun URL: [link] Date: March 24, 2005 'The end of my story' Terror suspect awash in despair as he awaits deportation

Hopeless and frightened, terror suspect Mohamed Harkat likens this week's Federal Court decision to uphold the security certificate that has kept him locked up for 27 months without charge to a death sentence. "I feel now just like somebody blocked my life. Took my life away," he told the Sun yesterday during an interview at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. "I see it like it's at the end of my story." His body trembling more and more as he spoke of his hearing and the allegations against him, Harkat struggled to fight back tears. "(Tuesday) I never slept. I cried all night in my bed," he said from behind the Plexiglas barrier. "I just feel like my brain is not working anymore. "Before I thought about getting out and starting to build myself and coming back and catching up with what I left 21/2 years ago ... I miss my family. I miss my wife. Now I'm just disappointed. I'm just waiting for what's next."

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Harkat supporters slam 'flawed' justice system

posted on March 28, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Original author: Tobi Cohen Source: The Ottawa Sun URL: [link] Date: March 24, 2005 Marchers demand stop to Canada's 'secret trials'

Despite his loss of hope following the latest setback in his attempt to clear his name, Mohamed Harkat said knowing so many people are standing behind him does bring some comfort. "I just want to thank my supporters and my wife. All the people who supported me from coast to coast," he said yesterday from the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. Just two hours later, more than 100 of those supporters gathered at the Human Rights Monument to protest Tuesday's Federal Court decision to uphold his security certificate. "The process continues to be as flawed as it has been since the security certificate process was introduced," said Jessica Squires of the Justice For Mohamed Harkat Committee which hosted the event. Noting the security certificate process is a gross breach of human rights and fundamental justice, as it allows people to be detained without charge and tried in court without the benefit of being privy to all the evidence, the committee is calling for the entire security certificate system to be abolished.

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Security certificate opponents 'rage' against government

posted on March 28, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Original author: Canadian Press
Source: The Ottawa Sun
URL: [link]
Date: March 27, 2005


MONTREAL -- Four days after a judge set the stage for Mohamed Harkat's deportation, his wife lashed out at the federal government for holding the Ottawa terror suspect without charges. "I have enormous rage against the Canadian government," said Sophie Harkat, who travelled to Montreal yesterday to join several dozen others in protesting national security certificates used to detain five alleged terrorists without trial or charges.

"I'm a Canadian citizen and I don't have the right to know how my husband came to be detained for 27 months without knowing the charges or the evidence ... it's unacceptable."

Last Tuesday, a Federal Court judge upheld the certificate issued against Harkat, who's been detained since December 2002 on suspicion of being an al-Qaida sleeper agent. Harkat faces deportation to his native Algeria.

Suspected Moroccan terrorist Adil Charkaoui, another man detained under a security certificate, also blasted the feds at the rally.

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Rights and national security collide in case of detained alleged terrorists

posted on March 28, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink

Original author: Canadian Press
Source: 900News.com
URL: [link]
Date: March 26, 2005

TORONTO (CP) - Canada's system of jailing suspected foreign terrorists indefinitely or deporting them to countries where they face a real risk of torture is under growing scrutiny and will likely have to change significantly, several experts say.

Judges, politicians and civil libertarians have been grappling with a system that does away with some of the most basic protections Canadians cherish in the interests of national security.

Those protections include the right not to be detained arbitrarily, the right to know the evidence the state has when it detains someone and the right to test that evidence in open court.

The issue of how best to protect the country while safeguarding basic individual rights is taxing democracies around the world.

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Adil Charkaoui joins Montreal protest against security certificates

posted on March 27, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink

Original author: Eilis Quinn
Source: Macleans.ca
URL: [link]
Date: March 26, 2005


MONTREAL (CP) - Suspected Moroccan terrorist Adil Charkaoui joined several dozen people Saturday to protest national security certificates used to detain alleged terrorists without trial or charges.

"I had a normal life like everybody and then one day, (the Canadian Security Intelligence Service) decided I was a threat to national security," said Charkaoui, 31, who was detained under a certificate for almost two years before being released under stringent bail conditions in February.

"They arrested me, they didn't show any proof and they told me I was very dangerous," he said, pulling up his pantleg to show the electronic ankle bracelet he must wear.

"I am just asking for justice ... I want the government to give me a fair trial to clear my name and show I'm not a terrorist."

Charkaoui, who is fighting the security certificate, is among five men who have been detained under the certificates since 2000.

The small crowd walked along downtown Ste-Catherine Street carrying signs and banners, calling for the end of "racist scapegoating."

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Harkat's wife vows to fight his deportation

posted on March 26, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Source: CBC News Ottawa
URL: [link]
Date: March 24, 2005


OTTAWA - Sophie Harkat is vowing to fight to keep her husband in Canada. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service believes Mohamed Harkat is an al-Qaeda sleeper agent who's been living in Ottawa since the late '90s.

Earlier this week, a federal court judge upheld the security certificate that has been used to keep Harkat in jail for more than two years.

About 100 of Harkat's supporters gathered in Ottawa, Wednesday, to protest his expected deportation to Algeria. Sophie Harkat spoke briefly to the gathering at the human-rights monument on Elgin Street. She promised to fight her husband's deportation.

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CP coverage of Harkat ruling

posted on March 24, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Original author: Terry Pedwell Source: Canadian Press and CANADA.COM URL: [link] Date: March 23, 2005 Harkat supporters denounce court ruling, vow to fight security certificates OTTAWA (CP) - Supporters of alleged terror suspect Mohamed Harkat vowed Wednesday to keep battling federal security certificates like the one that has kept Harkat in prison for over two years. A Federal Court judge on Tuesday upheld a security certificate issued against Harkat, setting the stage for his deportation to Algeria. Justice Eleanor Dawson concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe Harkat had "supported terrorist activity" as a member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, based on her assessment of secret evidence against him. Harkat supporters denounced the decision as another step in an unjust process. "Of course we were hoping for a different decision but we are not shocked by (the) outcome," said Christian Legeais of the Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee. "There is no justice with a process that does not conform to essential international legal standards," he said in a statement. Harkat's wife, Sophie, who has been leading a campaign to free him, said she's outraged by the ruling. "The justice system in Canada is in a sad state, and today I am outraged," she said through tears at an Ottawa news conference. "I am disgusted that I had to face my husband in jail . . . to let him know that the Canadian government had ruled against him," she said. "I was basically confirming a death sentence."

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Judge OKs Harkat's removal

posted on March 24, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Original author: John Steinbachs Source: The Ottawa Sun URL: [link] Date: March 23, 2005 Terror suspect lied about ties to extremists

MOHAMED HARKAT lied about his past under oath and the feds have reasonable grounds to deport him, a federal court judge ruled yesterday. Justice Eleanor Dawson's decision comes as another blow to Harkat who has been fighting allegations of having links to terrorism for two years. Dawson also ruled the legislation being used against him is constitutional. "I'm disappointed," said Harkat's lawyer Paul Copeland. But despite the loss, Copeland said Harkat's deportation is not imminent. "The minister's delegate still has to decide whether or not it's appropriate to send him back to Algeria (where he could be tortured or killed)," said Copeland.

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Just Another Busy Day in the Land of Secret Trials

posted on March 24, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink

Original author: Matthew Behrens of The Campaign To Stop Secret Trials in Canada
Source: TASC Email List Date: March 23, 2005 (feel free to forward and reproduce) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Just Another Busy Day in the Land of Secret Trials Mahmoud Jaballah Wins Judicial Review on Deportation to Torture; Security Certificate Upheld in case of Secret Trial Detainee Mohamed Harkat; Bail Hearing Continues for Secret Trial Detainee Mohammad Mahjoub; Security Certificate Hearing for Secret Trial Detainee (now under house arrest) Adil Charkaoui Suspended Pending new Protection Decision; Hassan Almrei marks 41 Months, Six Days in Solitary Confinement in Toronto Detention Facility

March 23, 2005--It was just another busy day in the land of secret trials yesterday. In a Toronto courtroom, eloquent arguments were heard in calling for the release on bail of secret trial detainee Mohammad Mahjoub, held without charge on secret "evidence" almost five years in a Toronto detention facility. Government lawyers pressed their case to deport him, knowing full well the torture or death which awaits him if returned to Egypt. The hearing is set to conclude April 22, with a decision hopefully within a month or two afterwards. Meanwhile, the secret trial security certificate against Algerian refugee Mohamed Harkat, held since his arrest on International Human Rights Day, December 10, 2002, was upheld on the basis of secret evidence. This will mean further jail time, and more court time, arguing that he, like Mahjoub and the other detainees, should not be deported given the cruel and unusual treatment which would be their fate.

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Federal Court decision is unjust

posted on March 24, 2005 | in Category Mohamed Harkat | PermaLink

Source: Press Release from The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee Date: March 23, 2005 For Immediate Release 23 March 2005 Harkat Federal Court decision "unjust" Supporters vow to continue fight

OTTAWA - Supporters of Mohammed Harkat vowed today to continue their fight against "security certificates" in the face of a Federal Court Decision that upholds the controversial tool that has kept Harkat in prison for over two years without charge. Justiice Eleanor Dawson stated in her decision which was announced yesterday and based on secret "evidence" heard in the absence of Mr. Harkat and his counsel that: "an order will issue determining the security certificate to be reasonable." Supporters of Harkat denounced the decision as just another step in an unjust process.

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