Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, 13 July 2004

July 13, 2004 - Adil Charkaoui, the 30 year old Montrealer who has spent more than 400 days in a Montreal prison without charges, on secret evidence, last week made another bid for his freedom.

He did so with the backing of some twenty people, including MNAs Louise Harel (PQ, Hochelaga-Maisonneuve) and Daniel Turp (PQ, Mercier), a former Professor of Charkaoui’s at University of Montreal, Gregory Baum (renowned theologian and author, retired McGill University professor), and Pascale Montpetit (comedian), in addition to Charkaoui’s father and sister. Together they offered around $50,000 in bail for Charkaoui’s conditional release.

This was the third "detention review" which the government is required to undertake every six months. Although many consider the imprisonment itself to be illegal - according to international law, to fundamental rights to free and fair trial and to liberty, not to mention Canada's own constitution - the government does at least provide for some review in Charkaoui's case. In the case of the other four Muslim men who are detained under security certificates there is no review at all because they are refugees. Only permanent residents merit the occasional glance behind the bars. Mohammad Mahjoub has been held this way for four years.

Reversing the principle of innocent until proven guilty, the judge has twice decided, on the basis of secret evidence provided by one side of the case, to keep Adil behind bars. If the judge decides, once again, on the basis of secret evidence, not to release Adil, he will spend another six months in jail as the judicial review of Minister McLellan's security certificate drags on.

About twenty supporters, including family, sat through two days of hearings on whether Adil could go home to his family under bail and conditions. They listened as four witnesses took the stand in defense of Adil: a family friend, his sister, his father, and Abdurahman Khadr.

Mr. Larbi, a friend of the Charkaoui family, came forward with $20,000 to back Adil's release. "It's not because I am a rich man!" he said. He explained that he had complete confidence that Adil would respect whatever conditions the court put on his release.

Hind Charkaoui next took the stand to speak for her brother's release. The courageous 22 year old has been tireless in quest for the liberation of her brother, despite the serious medical condition which has seen her hospitalised several times since her brother's arrest. When the crown argued that Hind was therefore an "invalid" incapable of monitoring Adil, those who knew her energy, based on a passionate belief in her brother, could only shake their heads in disgust. The crown's assertion that Hind's affadavit was not acceptable, because her belief that her brother was not receiving a fair and independent trial indicated that she did not respect the court, brought smiles. Hind used the opportunity to elaborate, in clear and convincing terms, just why she thought the Secret Trial process was unjust.

Mohamed Charkaoui spoke straight from the heart of his confidence in his son. He explained that he wanted to believe in the judge, as a father and as the representative of the Canadian justice system; that he had moved to Canada because he had hope that the system here was fair, and how he still, despite everything that had happened, very much wanted to believe in Canada. Meanwhile, at the very back of the court, an unsmiling man in a suit sat beside a briefcase with a circular hole near the bottom of one side which looked to several observers suspiciously like the lens of a camera from a bad spy movie, aimed at the court, filming supporters.

The next person was Abdurahman Khadr, a witness called by Charkaoui. Despite the fact that he is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, and despite the violations of normal procedure which means the process is stacked against him, Charkaoui was forced to address the vague allegations just to be released on bail. Because Charkaoui and his lawyer are denied access to the evidence that is used against him, they are unable to counter specific claims that are made or to cross-examine witnesses against him. It was only by the accident of media attention that Charkaoui heard of Abdurahman Khadr and was able to contact him in the hope that he would be able to counter some of the suspicions that have fallen on Charkaoui.

Khadr, whose sensational story about his family’s involvement in Al Qaeda and his own involvement in the CIA made headlines earlier this year, explained that he was in a unique position to have met Charkaoui had the latter ever come to train in Afghanistan. As Canadians in Afghanistan closely associated with bin Laden, the Khadrs made a point of meeting the few Canadians who entered the tightly-knit networks in which they moved. Khadr was also at Khalden training camp in 1998. In the public summary of the secret evidence being used against Charkaoui, Khalden camp in Afghanistan is named in implied connection with a trip Charkaoui made to Pakistan in 1998. “I have never seen Adil Charkaoui before today,” Khadr confirmed. He also testified that courses at Khalden, an independent camp teaching basic military and self-defense skills (basically, a boot camp), ran for eight months. Adil's trip to Pakistan lasted only six and a half months.

Khadr also testified at length concerning the torture he experienced and witnessed in US-operated prisons in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. This threw into doubt the secret evidence that the crown supposedly has against Charkaoui, which was very likely to have been extracted under torture, rendering its accuracy highly questionable and making it formally inadmissable in Canadian courts.

In a surprise ending, the Judge, on his own initiative, asked for a closed hearing with the Minister, without Charkaoui and his lawyer. Charkaoui's lawyer, Johanne Doyon, reminded Judge Noel that nothing in the law provided for the judge initiating a secret hearing. Noel, who is facing a motion for removal for perceived bias in the case, agreed, but nevertheless decided to hold the hearing.

The decision will probably come out in a few weeks. If the judge decides against releasing him, Charkaoui will spend another six months in prison – which will mean more than 18 months in prison without charge, on secret evidence. But the family is holding out hope.
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For an update on the various legal fronts (protection, motion to remove the judge, constitutionality, and the security certificate, see www.adilinfo.org/updatejuly11.htm).

The Coalition for Justice for Adil Charkaoui formed in Montreal in a matter of days after his abrupt arrest. The Coalition - an alliance of Muslim groups, refugee and immigrant rights organizations, anti-oppression groups and the Charkaoui family - demands the immediate release of all Security Certificate detainees, no deportations, a fair trial, an immediate end to the "Security Certificate" system, an end to scape-goating in response to American pressure, and an end to the harassment of Muslims and Arabs.