The final electronic shackle binding a man accused of terrorism to federal supervision was cut Thursday, leaving in tatters the government's security-certificate system for detaining foreigners believed to be a threat.
“It's official,” Adil Charkaoui said as he clutched an order issued abruptly by Federal Court Judge Danièle Tremblay-Lamer that lifted all remaining bail conditions on him. “I've been waiting on this for six years.”
Held under a security certificate as an al-Qaeda suspect since 2003, the Montreal schoolteacher from Morocco was given back his liberty after the Crown withdrew much of its evidence in a bid to keep it secret. The federal lawyers pleaded with the judge to leave some bail conditions in place while they seek to appeal orders to disclose the information.
Judge Tremblay-Lamer freed Mr. Charkaoui even as she postponed making an official ruling on the viability of the case until a final closed-door hearing next week. “The certificate will fall,” she said. “How, is the question.”
As Mr. Charkaoui fought the system that allowed the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to use secret evidence to brand him a threat, the Supreme Court of Canada twice ordered the spy agency to reveal more of its information.
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Charkaoui freed, Ottawa’s terror law shattered
posted on September 25, 2009 | in Category Security Certificates | PermaLink
by Les Perreaux and Colin Freeze
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: September 24, 2009
Al-Qaeda suspect freed, Ottawa’s terror law shattered