Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star, Aug 26, 2009
In the topsy-turvy world of security, few stories are more bizarre than that of Adil Charkaoui. Six years ago, the federal government jailed him as an alleged Al Qaeda sleeper agent. Now, it turns out, the government admits it has no credible evidence of that or indeed anything else against him that it's willing to test in court.
But the government still wants the 36-year-old Montrealer – who has applied for but not yet been granted Canadian citizenship – deported to his native Morocco.
Charkaoui is one of five Muslim men, non-citizens all, caught up in the Catch-22 web of Canadian immigration law. This allows the government – under judicial oversight – to jail without charge and eventually deport any non-citizen it deems a security risk.
The judicial oversight clause is important. Even though the law is stacked against detainees (secret evidence is permitted), all five have managed to convince judges that they are not as dangerous as the government claims and need not be kept in jail.
Charkaoui, however, is the legal star of the five. He's won two Supreme Court challenges and, as he gradually demolished Ottawa's case against him, managed to make the government look like an idiot.