Montreal, 23 January 2008 -- The Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui
deplores the attack on Mr. Charkaoui's reputation in an article by Graeme
Hamilton which appeared in the National Post today under a sensationalist
headline. This attack follows the publication of other defamatory
allegations against Mr. Charkaoui this past June in the Montreal newspaper
La Presse, after the criminal leak of a secret, CSIS-sourced document. The
Coalition repeats its call for a government inquiry into the actions of CSIS
in Charkaoui's case.

The National Post article is based on a public summary of an alleged
interview with Mr. Charkaoui in 2001 which was disclosed earlier this month to the
Federal Court in a secret hearing. The interview was not provided to the
Ministers who signed Mr. Charkaoui's certificate, nor previously to the
Federal Court. The timing of this belated disclosure, almost seven years
after the interview apparently took place, raises serious questions. It
recalls a similar incident in January 2005, when CSIS suddenly released a
one-paragraph summary of two other previously undisclosed interviews on the
eve of a bail hearing.

In this case, the assault on Mr. Charkaoui's credibility comes just one week
before a Supreme Court hearing into bias in Mr. Charkaoui's case and into
the fact that CSIS destroyed secret evidence in Mr. Charkaoui's file. It was
revealed in Federal Court in January 2005 that CSIS destroyed the records of
other interviews with Mr. Charkaoui. The destruction of interview records
means that the Court only has access to secret summaries prepared by CSIS:
de-contextualized, selective and possibly false. The Supreme Court hearing
will take place on Thursday, 31 January in Ottawa.

Mr. Charkaoui vehemently reiterates that he is not, and has never been, a
terrorist or a member of any terrorist network. He also categorically denies
making claims against any other members of the Muslim community which would
connect them to any such activities. Once more, he challenges CSIS and the
government to come up with any evidence whatsoever that can stand up in a
court of law, such as records of full interviews rather than biased
summaries.

The Coalition calls upon all journalists and media outlets who are acting in
the public interest to recall the findings of the Arar Commission and to
question the motivation of security agencies in releasing such information.
The Coalition also begs journalists to exercise caution in deploying
politically-charged, imprecise terms such as "extremist" and
"terrorist suspect", which can and do cause material damage to the lives and
reputation of individuals and Muslim communities.

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Source:
Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui
tel 514 848 7583
www.adilinfo.org
justiceforadil@riseup.net