by Mohammed Adam
Source: The Montreal Gazette
URL: [link]
Date: January 21, 2011


[PHOTO: Mohamed Harkat talks to the media after leaving the Canadian Border Services Agency in Ottawa, January 21, 2011.]

OTTAWA — Saying his client is innocent, Ottawa lawyer Matt Webber vowed Friday to fight a deportation order against Mohamed Harkat all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, if necessary.

Harkat, 42, the former pizza deliveryman branded a terrorist by a Federal Court judge, was served with a formal notice of deportation Friday that could see him returned to his native Algeria, and potential torture. But Webber said his client is not going anywhere, adding that he has been given permission to file an appeal against the judgment of Justice Simon Noel, and will do so in "short order."

The presiding judge has to "certify" the issues being appealed, and Noel agreed to some of the issues, including the constitutionality of the security certificate system under which Harkat was declared a danger to Canada. The breadth of the appeal is to be revealed when it is filed in a "couple of weeks."

Webber said he hasn't been given any assurances by the federal government that Harkat won't be removed from Canada.

"I have not received any assurances from the Canadian Border Services Agency, but in a country that embraces due process and has a charter of rights, you don't remove people from the country to potential danger when they have an ongoing appeal," he said.

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