Suspected terrorist (Charkaoui) takes stand in Montreal
posted on February 09, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSource: CBC.CA CBC News
URL: [link]
Date: February 8, 2005
MONTREAL - Suspected terrorist Adil Charkaoui testified in his own defence Monday at a bail hearing in federal court.
It's the first time since his detention that Charkaoui has taken the stand
Charkaoui has been held on a ministerial security certificate for almost three years, which means neither he nor his lawyers have seen the evidence against him.
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Government seeks way to deport security certificate detainees
posted on February 09, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
A federal official has conceded that the government does not have the legal right to indefinitely detain foreign-born terrorist suspects who cannot be deported.
But Alex Swann, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan, said the government intends to aggressively pursue the deportation of terror suspects through the controversial security certificate process. And the question of when that pursuit formally ends is something that may have to be decided by the Supreme Court.
"As long as we're working through the security certificate process with the aim of removal, that (detention) continues to be an option," Mr. Swann said.
"When a deportation is unsuccessful, I don't know when that time comes," Mr. Swann said.
Mr. Swann maintained the question of when the government must end its pursuit of a terrorist suspect's deportation remains hypothetical.
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which sets out the security certificate process, allows the government to detain foreign-born terror suspects on the strength of secret evidence until they can be deported.
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There has to be a better way
posted on February 09, 2005 | in Category | PermaLinkSource: The Montreal Gazette, editorial
URL: N/A
Date: February 8, 2005
Adil Charkaoui has been held in jail for almost two years, and hardly anyone knows why. Some people in the Canadian security establishment know, and two cabinet ministers who signed a "security certificate" know, but nobody else does. There's got to be a better way.
Charkaoui, 31, is an immigrant from Morocco. The government wants to deport him back to that country - he is not a Canadian citizen - and he's fighting deportation.
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Critics challenge view of security
posted on February 08, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSource: The Montreal Gazette
URL: [link]
Date: February 07, 2005
The government claims it's a necessary trade-off to protect Canada and its citizens, but a growing number of legal, human rights and refugee advocates decry the security certificate as discriminating against non-citizens.
There are now six men, five of them Muslim, being held without charge, with little or no knowledge of the evidence against them and risk deportation to their countries, where some face torture. They have no chance to appeal.
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NDP Resolution Re Security Certificates
posted on February 04, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkTrials in Canada
Source: TASC Email List
Date: February 1, 2005
Hey folks
In addition to the good news on the deportation decision with respect to Mohammad Mahjoub, we just got great news from the NDP, which at its weekend federal council passed the following resolution, Special thanks for the courageous work of Alexa McDonough,. who has shown great leadership on this issue (even stepping forward as a bail surety for one of the secrtety trial five!)
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Volpe gets Sgro's job
posted on January 15, 2005 | in Category Canada's Immigration Policy | PermaLinkOTTAWA - Judy Sgro, who was already on political life support, succumbed today to a fresh allegation of wrongdoing and resigned as federal immigration minister.
But she said she was only stepping down to allow her to prove she's innocent and fight to clear her name.
She became the first casualty in Prime Minister Paul Martin's seven-month-old minority government, which limped back to power in June on promises of being squeaky clean after the sponsorship scandal.
Sgro's departure came after allegations made by a Toronto pizzeria owner, reported in today's Toronto Star, that she promised him asylum in return for providing food and workers for her re-election campaign last June.
Harjit Singh, who is fighting deportation to India, claims in a sworn Federal Court affidavit that when word of their arrangement leaked out, she ordered his deportation to "save her job."
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Canadian Minister Sgro Quits Immigration Post; Volpe Gets Job
posted on January 14, 2005 | in Category Canada's Immigration Policy | PermaLink
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's Immigration Minister Judy Sgro resigned the post, saying she wants to clear her name after an illegal immigrant alleged she had offered him asylum in exchange for help in her election campaign.
Sgro, who will be replaced by Joe Volpe, was already under investigation for speeding up a Canadian citizenship application to a Romanian stripper who helped her campaign.
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Protest at Anne MacLellan's Office in Edmonton
posted on January 13, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
Click to enlarge
"It was very cold yesterday but several tough activists met outside Ms. McLellan's constituency office. We protested from four to five thirty and as the demonstrators went into the office to send a personal message to Anne (which made more work for the staff who do very little) they closed early. Good speakers and free hot chocolate from the local coffee shop who know us very well. A very lovely Muslim family."
CSIS tainted terror suspect's case
posted on January 12, 2005 | in Category CSIS | PermaLinkMONTREAL - Since Canada's spy agency destroyed what could be key evidence in the case against Adil Charkaoui, the security certificate keeping the Montrealer detained without charge should be quashed, his lawyer argued yesterday. Dominique Larochelle said the destruction of notes and transcripts of interviews the Canadian Security Intelligence Service conducted with Mr. Charkaoui in 2002 is a violation that could prejudice her client.
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[REPORT-BACK] Rally In Edmonton on December 10th
posted on January 06, 2005 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLinkSource: Alberta-Arab News
URL: N/A
Date: January 5, 2005
Edmonton - As the world marked International Human Rights Day on Dec. 10, human rights groups across Canada were fighting for the release of five Muslim men who are languishing in prison and could be deported based on evidence unknown either to them or their lawyers.
Mohammad Mahjoub, Mahmoud Jaballah, Hassan Almrei, Mohamed Harkat and Adil Charkaoui have collectively spent more than 164 months in detention. They are lonely, confused and scared because they could face torture if sent home.
At a rally in front of the RCMP K Division Headquarters during the evening rush hour, supporters donned prisoner and lawyer costumes, and introduced the five men individually. The "defence lawyer" wore a blindfold and gag. Supporters also walked up and down 109th Street wearing sandwich signs and carrying banners that read, "No one is illegal" and "Stop secret trials and deportations."
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