Source: The Mississauga News
URL: [link]
Date: February 15, 2009


Mississauga resident Hassan Almrei, pegged by CSIS after 9/11 as a terror suspect linked to terror kingpin Osama Bin Laden, celebrated the defeat of the federal government's deportation case against him by having a non-alcoholic drink yesterday with his lawyers.

His team of lawyers, however, toasted victory with champagne.

"This is a huge decision," said lead lawyer Lorne Waldman.

Yesterday, more than eight years after Almrei's arrest, a Federal Court of Canada judge threw out the security certificate against him, concluding the evidence — both secret and public — against the Syrian native does not hold up to scrutiny.

In a landmark ruling, Justice Richard Mosley declared "unreasonable" the security certificate that deemed Almrei a threat to national security.

Almrei was first arrested in October 2001 in his Cooksville apartment. He as released last March under strict monitoring conditions that include an electronic tracking bracelet on his leg.

He said yesterday he had waited a long time for this day.

"I'm glad. I cannot describe how happy I am," he said from his lawyer's office. "At the same time, I'm sad it took me more than eight years."

[ Read the rest ... ]