Irwin Block, The Montreal Gazette, 23 January 2009
 
Moroccan-born Adil Charkaoui is a "mainstream Muslim" who was unfairly profiled as a security risk and jailed without any evidence or charges, says Montreal imam Salam Elmenyawi.
 
"He is guilty by association, not by committing any act," Elmenyawi, chairperson of the Muslim Council of Montreal, told the Federal Court yesterday.
 
Elmenyawi was the last witness called by Charkaoui's lawyers in support of a motion to remove the most stringent conditions imposed as part of his house arrest after his release from detention in February 2005.
 
A chaplain at McGill and Concordia, Elmenyawi said Charkaoui "understands very well the damages the Muslim community has suffered from actions and violence in the name of Islam."
 
He recalled Charkaoui expressed "outrage" when the Talmud Torah schools library in St. Laurent was firebombed and denounced the London bus bombings and alleged Toronto terror plot.
 
Charkaoui was detained in May 2003 based on a security certificate for noncitizens that was issued after the Canadian Security Intelligence Service determined he fits the profile of a sleeper agent for a terrorist group and was a security threat.
 
Elmenyawi countered "until the courts prove otherwise, we say Adil Charkaoui is innocent of any charges against him."
 
A father of three studying for a Ph.D. at Université de Montréal, Charkaoui faces deportation to Morocco, where human rights advocates fear he will be subject to torture.
 
Under cross-examination, Elmenyawi testified Charkaoui's association with Jamaat Dawa Tabligh group, which organized a visit to Pakistan in 1998, was based on its "celebration of faith."
 
He told federal lawyer Gretchen Timmins that an article she cited claiming the group "aids and abets terrorism" was "total bigotry."
 
Agreeing to continue the $50,000 bond in his name, Charkaoui wants to be subject only to the usual conditions for a person facing deportation - keeping the peace, maintaining good conduct and reporting to immigration authorities when summoned.
 
Immigration and Public Safety departments feel the conditions now in force are appropriate to the risk. They include monitoring with a global positioning system device, restricted access to phone and computers, and having to be accompanied everywhere by his father, mother or close friend Larbi Oizani.
 
Closing arguments are on Feb. 4.