Original author: Mary Foster
Source: Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui

Two secret trial decisions came out yesterday, on the eve of Martin meeting with Bush in the US: one on Mohamed Harkat's case, and the second in Mahmoud Jaballah's case (links to both decisions are included below).

Judge Dawson upheld the certificate for Harkat after several months of deliberating on secret information, without ever having heard Harkat's side in a fair trial, in a process which undermines the principles of the legal profession. While her decision is unquestionably a victory for injustice and racism, it does NOT mean that Harkat is in imminent danger of deportation. Harkat can now apply for protection from Canada, given the fact that, as a convention refugee, he faces serious risks if he is deported. He can also apply for release on bail.In fact, yesterday's excellent decision in Jaballah's case lends lots of hope for Harkat and the other four men. Judge MacKay threw out the Minister's decision that Jaballah could be deported, saying that it was not legal. In four of the cases, the Minister had decided that the men could be deported despite the risk that they will be tortured or killed if forced out of Canada - really shocking decisions. But in three cases now (Mahjoub's, Almrei's and now Jaballah's) the federal court judges have thrown out this decision; and, in the fourth case (Charkaoui's), the Minister of Immigration withdrew the decision before it even got to court. So in four cases out of four, the Minster has to go back to the drawing board. This is a good time to let the government know that deportation to torture is NEVER acceptable, let alone in cases where people are being deported on secrets, hearsay, tortured or plea-bargained confessions, and newspaper articles in an atmosphere of reason-denying racism and fear. We can be sure that Martin is not hearing this message from Bush today.

Meanwhile, Mahjoub was in court yesterday, seeking release on bail after almost five years in prison without charge on secret evidence. The decision on whether he will be allowed to rejoin his family should come out in the next weeks.

This is a quick reaction from me - Campaign to stop secret trials in Canada will be sending a detailed report later this morning.

Mary