Public Hearings in Adil Charkaoui's case will continue Wednesday, 4 February at 9:30am. Everyone is encouraged to observe the hearings which will take place at the Federal Court, 30 McGill St., near Square Victoria metro, in Montreal.

Both sides will make legal arguments about the draconian conditions that were imposed on Mr. Charkaoui in February 2005, by means of the old security certificate law ...

SECRET PROFILE - SUFFICIENT TO IMPOSE HOUSE ARREST?

When the Supreme Court ruled that security certificate legislation was unconstitutional in February 2007, the severe conditions on Mr. Charkaoui and the other security certificate detainees remained in place. Under the new law, brought in almost a year ago, the conditions were supposed to be completely reviewed by the Federal Court; this is finally happening.

In January, Mr. Charkaoui presented several witnesses and written statements to support his motion that the conditions - which have been imposed for four years now, without charge or trial, on the basis of secret information - should be dropped. Notably, Mr. Ted Flanigan, a CSIS official sub-poened by Charkaoui's lawyers, testified that CSIS's position was that Mr. Charkaoui had a profile, which he explained was different from 'being' a "sleeper cell agent". Mr. Flanigan was unable, moreover, to define 'profile of sleeper cell agent' for the court; he stated that there was no definition, and that the "indicators" were protected by national security. He also stated that he believed that no original transcripts of interviews and wire-taps had been provided to the judge, but only summaries prepared by CSIS.

Mr. Charkaoui's mother, Latifa, testified about how the lives of the entire family had been devastated by the conditions, which require her and her husband to accompany Mr. Charkaoui each time he leaves his home. She explained how she and her husband had brought their two children to Canada for a better life in 1995. A close family friend testified that Mr. Charkaoui was a loving father who adored teaching and studying. The principal of the high school where Mr. Charkaoui worked told the court that Mr. Charkaoui was a model teacher, who cared for his students very much and who she had asked to train other teachers. She said she would give him a 99% as a teacher. The President of the Muslim Council of Montreal, Mr. Salam Elmenyawi, testified that he knew Adil well and, from what he knows about him, he would never be involved in the things CSIS is associating him with. He also spoke about CSIS harassment of the community and the various steps taken to defend the rights of community members; from education about legal rights, to meetings with the head of CSIS, to media work.

CSIS, for its part, chose not to present a witness, but brought a CSIS agent who had never worked on Charkaoui's file and testified that he had no knowledge of the case, to read aloud the public summary of allegations against Charkaoui that were posted on the Federal Court website in February 2008.

NEXT MONTHS

On 4 February, legal arguments about the conditions will be heard. These will raise questions important to all of us about when and how the state is allowed to infringe on our freedoms. A court decision would be made on the issue of conditions in the following weeks.

Meanwhile, the hearings on the reasonability of the certificate - both secret and the public face of those secret hearings - may pick up again sometime in the spring. (Following the June 2008 Supreme Court Charkaoui II ruling, that CSIS could no longer destroy evidence in active files, and that a very high standard of evidence is required given the tremendous consequences to the individual's life and liberty, CSIS asked in October for a delay of six months to put information together to give to the judge. The judge agreed but did not suspend the reasonability hearings.)

**To read reports of the hearings in January and February, prepared by Federal Court Watch, click here.**