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| Great White North |
| Canadian court to release Zubaydah flunky on bail |
| 2006-06-10 |
| A Canadian court denied a request on Friday to delay the release on bail of an Algerian man found to have engaged in terrorist activities and to have lied about links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Federal Court of Appeals Justice Robert Decary ruled that the federal government had failed to show that the suspect, Mohamed Harkat, would be able to inflict irreparable harm given the tight bail conditions. Federal Court Justice Eleanor Dawson ruled on May 23 that Harkat could be freed under strict conditions even though she had found him to have lied under oath about his association with Bin Laden lieutenant Abu Zubaydah and having assisted Islamic extremists. "It is true that Mr. Harkat was found by Dawson ... to have engaged in terrorist activities," Decary said in rejecting the government's request to delay or stay Harkat's release until a full appeal of Dawson's decision could be heard next month. "It is also true, however, that the very same judge has found that at the present time his release from detention under strict conditions does not pose a threat to national security or a danger to the safety of any person." Harkat is one of five Muslim foreigners who have been held by Canada on suspicion of being terrorists since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. They have been held without charge under controversial national security certificates, which allow for secret hearings to determine whether they should be deported. Harkat's legal team, along with lawyers for two of the other men, will separately challenge the constitutionality of those certificates before the Supreme Court of Canada next Tuesday and Wednesday. The argument is that if they indeed are suspected of being terrorists they should be charged and tried as criminals under terrorism legislation, and that secret hearings are not fair. The government makes the point that to get a terrorism conviction requires a judge to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt. It says it should still retain the authority to deny the right to live in Canada to a foreigner whom it might be difficult to convict criminally but who it has "reasonable grounds" to believe might engage in terrorism. In Harkat's case, he still remains in prison for at least a few days while the Canada Border Services Agency finalizes arrangements for supervising him. Among the bail conditions are that he wear an electronic bracelet that will help authorities track his movements and that they be allowed to monitor his phone conversations. In ordering his release last month, Judge Dawson said the government was taking too long to decide whether Harkat would face torture or death if he were returned to Algeria. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Would you like waffles with that order? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2006-06-10 06:49 |