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Great White North
Canuck terrorist granted bail
2005-06-27
Hassan Almrei, one of five Muslim men jailed in Canada for alleged connections to terrorism, will have a bail hearing in Toronto Monday. Almrei has been held for more than 3œ years on a security certificate, under which a detainee can be held indefinitely without a trial. The government is also allowed to keep the evidence a secret.

Almrei and his lawyers have not been allowed to see much of the evidence used by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service to have him arrested nor has he been charged or given a trial.

CSIS alleges that Almrei is connected to al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and is a threat to Canadian security. Almrei, who denies the allegations, has admitted to working for a Saudi honey company accused of funnelling money to the terrorist network. He also admits he entered Canada on a false passport and knows an alleged al-Qaeda operative now being held in the U.S. in connection with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
I know we're just rubes and fools south of the border, but in the US that kind of evidence gets you a conviction in Federal court. Even today.
The certificate used to arrest Almrei was supposed be a device that could have him quickly deported back to Syria, his country of origin. But Almrei's lawyers successfully argued before a judge that Syria is a country where the police use torture as an interrogation technique. As a matter of policy, Canada doesn't deport people to countries where they might be tortured.

Matthew Barrens, a political activist who has kept in close contact with Almrei during his time in prison, said Almrei is in legal limbo. "One choice is to be sent back to torture. The other is indefinite detention here in Canada," he said.
A third choice is to squeal like a pig cow.
Barrens said the government should either let Almrei go or give him a trial. Since no formal charge has ever been laid against him, Barrens said at the very least he should be granted bail.

John Thompson, a security analyst who advocates tough measures to combat terrorism, said even he agrees you can't hold someone forever. "If you can't build a case against someone in four or five years then maybe you shouldn't be holding them," he said.
Even I agree, you can't hold him indefinitely without a trial. Convict him. Then you can hold him indefinitely.
Posted by:Dan Darling

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