by "Upcoming Events"
Source: NOWAR-PAIX Website
URL: [link]
Date: August19, 2008

Ottawa Premiere of Taxi to the Dark Side by Alex Gibney

Thursday, September 11, 2008, 7 pm
Bytowne Cinema, 325 Rideau Street

All proceeds go to NOWAR-PAIX and
The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee

We are selling advance tickets to help pay
the up-front expenses for bringing "Taxi to the Dark Side" to Ottawa.
Please consider buying your tickets now.
How to buy advance tickets

For more information and to view a trailer for Taxi to the Dark Side
www.nowar-paix.ca/taxi

Here is a short audio message that Mohamed Harkat recorded which was played at his birthday party yesterday in his absence:


AUDIO: Message From Mohamed Harkat (Sept 6, 2008)

by Jon Willing
Source: The Ottawa Sun
URL: [link]
Date: September 7, 2008

Lawyer admits frustration as client celebrates 40th birthday

The newest member of Team Harkat is no stranger to fighting tough legal battles, but even this one has Norman Boxall feeling like his hands are tied.

"It's the most frustrating thing I've ever been asked to be involved in," the lawyer said yesterday at a 40th birthday party for Mohamed Harkat, the accused al-Qaida operative being monitored under a national security certificate.

"You aren't permitted to do what a lawyer normally does," Boxall said.

Boxall only joined Harkat's legal team two months ago and is already seeing the challenges of defending someone without knowing the complete details of the allegations.

The feds earlier this year appointed a group of special advocates to protect the rights of those bound by security certificates, but personal lawyers are not privy to the information disclosed to the advocates.

STAGE UNKNOWN

For that reason, no one really knows what stage Harkat's case is at.

Boxall said a closed hearing might be scheduled next week, but he doesn't know where it is, when it is or what's supposed to be discussed.

Harkat continues to live under strict bail conditions in Ottawa.

The feds didn't clear Harkat to attend his own birthday party at Church of the Ascension, between Colonel By Dr. and Main St.

His wife Sophie, who will turn 34 on Sept. 17, said Harkat last night was with her mother for a "pre-approved outing at a pre-approved location."

About 50 people showed up for Harkat's birthday party and they left an empty chair in the middle of the room with his picture surrounded by streamers and balloons.

Supporters were miffed that Harkat, who turned 40 on Aug. 6, wasn't permitted at his own party.

"What do you gain by this? You gain creating a little more hardship for this guy," said Karen Markle, 46.

Copyright © 2007, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.

by Jennifer Campbell
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: [link]
Date: September 07, 2008

Supporters speak out after agency denies terror suspect permission to attend potluck

The birthday boy thanked the assembled crowd for coming out to a party he couldn't attend.

Ottawa terror suspect Mohammed Harkat, who was released under strict conditions after having spent four years in jail under a security certificate, wasn't allowed to attend his own birthday party because the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which is responsible for monitoring Mr. Harkat's movements, said it would be a political gathering and that contravenes the conditions of his release.

That came as a surprise to his wife, Sophie, who said they've received permission to attend potlucks together in the past. Under Mr. Harkat's conditions, they must make their outing requests 48 hours in advance.

"It's a sad day for injustice in this country when the birthday boy can't attend his own party," Ms. Harkat said.

So while friends and supporters gathered at a church on Echo Drive for what did end up being a political party -- but only after he was denied permission to attend -- Mr. Harkat spent the evening with his mother-in-law and his nine-year-old niece. He did, however, send a recorded message in his place.

"It's a shame and a disappointment that I'm not able to attend," the former pizza delivery man and gas-station attendant said in the recording. "The struggle continues for my family and I.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Sun Media
Source: The Ottawa Sun
URL: [link]
Date: September 5, 2008


Ottawa man held on Security Certificate under strict house arrest

Mohamed Harkat has been barred from attending his own 40th birthday party by the Canadian Border Services Agency. (File photo)

Terror suspect Mohamed Harkat has been denied permission to attend his own 40th birthday party in an Ottawa church by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), his supporters say.

The party is planned for Saturday at 5 p.m. at The Church of the Ascension. The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee, in response, is opening up the party to all supporters.

Supporters of Harkat, being held under strict house arrest on a terror-related Security Certificate issued by federal authorities, say every effort was made to comply with the conditions of his bail - which are among the toughest in Canadian history. The guest list was restricted to those already approved by CBSA for home visits, the venue was an Anglican church, and every effort was made to maintain a low profile for the event.

All the court-appointed supervising sureties were going to attend.

Despite these precautions taken by the Harkats, Canadian Border Services denied the outing on the grounds that the event would be too political.

"It was going to be a birthday party. We have family and friends from all over, even from out of town, for this special occasion, people bringing food, and some music lined up. But there wasn't going to be speeches or anything political," said Harkat's wife Sophie.

"We bent over backwards to do everything to comply with the court's control order on my husband. We really wanted this to be a fun, memorable evening for Moe."

Sophie Harkat says the birthday party will go ahead anyway, even though the guest of honour will be at home.

Organizers say the refusal to let Mohamed Harkat attend is creating exactly the type of situation the CBSA wanted to avoid -- that it has now taken on a distinctly political tone.

Those in attendance will place an empty chair in the middle of the room to symbolize Harkat's absence.

Copyright © 2007, Canoe Inc. All rights reserved.

Source: The Montreal Gazette
URL: [link]
Date: September 3, 2008

MONTREAL - Canada's spymasters have already disclosed everything they can to Adil Charkaoui about their case against him - and any further revelations would breach national-security requirements, government lawyers trying to deport the Montreal teacher to Morocco told a Federal Court hearing in Montreal Wednesday.

Before reaching this conclusion, "we conducted a meticulous review" of all material related to Charkaoui that operatives of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) have collected on him over the years, federal lawyer Nancie Couture told the hearing.

Judge Danièle Tremblay-Lamer responded by asking Ottawa for precision - and asking for it in writing.

"I don't want any surprises," the judge said to the government's lead lawyer, François Joyal.

"I don't want any surprises in three months," she added at another point, during a series of tart exchanges with Ottawa's legal team.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Peter Rakobowchuk (CP)
Source: The Globe and Mail
URL: [link]
Date: September 3, 2008


MONTREAL - Armed with a Supreme Court ruling, lawyers for suspected terrorist Adil Charkaoui will ask the Federal Court today to order immediate disclosure of the evidence in his file.
In June, the Supreme Court of Canada slammed Canada's spy service for destroying the original evidence behind its allegation that the father of three is a terrorist.

Mary Foster, a member of Coalition Justice for Adil Charkaoui, a support group, says the Supreme Court has recognized the French teacher's right to see all the evidence against him.

'It's not enough to give him a summary, which the government has been doing so far,' she said in a telephone interview.

In a unanimous decision, the country's top court declared the Canadian Security Intelligence Service must retain the information it gathers, in order to 'uphold the right to procedural fairness of people in Charkaoui's position.'

Ms. Foster says Mr. Charkaoui's lawyers need all the information that exists in his file so they can prepare a proper defence.

'If he was going to have to pay a $50 fine, well, maybe a summary is enough, but the fact that he might have to pay with his life means that a summary is not enough,' she said.

Mr. Charkaoui, a landed immigrant from a coastal town near Casablanca, was arrested in Montreal in May, 2003. He was accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent prepared to wage terror attacks against western targets.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Canwest News Service
Source: The Ottawa Citizen
URL: N/A
Date: September 03, 2008


Mounties led to believe Ottawa man would be sent back to Canada

Following the 9/11 terror attacks, the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush "threw out the rule book" when it came to co-operating with its allies, former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli said in an interview that aired last night.

In the interview with CBC, Mr. Zaccardelli also had harsh words for his former counterparts in the national security business -- the Canadian Security Intelligence Service -- over the Maher Arar affair.

Mr. Arar was arrested six years ago as he passed through New York on his way home to Ottawa from a family holiday in Tunisia . He was then sent to a Syrian prison, where he was held and tortured for a year.

The RCMP had been watching Mr. Arar, who was suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda, and had passed that information to the U.S. The U.S. authorities informed the RCMP they had detained Mr. Arar, Mr. Zaccardelli told the CBC, and then asked whether, if they sent him home, the RCMP would be able to arrest or detain the Syrian-born Canadian citizen. The Mounties replied that they did not have the evidence to detain him.

[ Read the rest ... ]

by Andrew Duffy
Source: Canwest News Service
URL: [link]
Date: August 29, 2008


OTTAWA - The federal government is about to resume its epic legal campaign to deport five high-profile terror suspects.

All five of the country's security certificate cases have been scheduled to go before Federal Court judges in November and December - although there is one legal hurdle yet to clear.

The federal judges will be asked to determine the "reasonableness" of the security certificates based largely upon Canadian Security Intelligence Service evidence heard in secret. Reasonableness is a legal standard that is lower than those applied in criminal and civil court.

The five men targeted by the certificates include the Moroccan-born Adil Charkaoui, Hassan Almrei of Syria, Egyptians Mahmoud Jaballah and Mahamed Zeki Mahjoub and Algerian refugee Mohamed Harkat.

[ Read the rest ... ]

Source: Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui
URL: [link]
Date: August 30, 2008


YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED IN COURT
Security Certificate Round Two: Federal Court asked to implement second Supreme Court decision

Federal Court Hearing Wednesday, 3 September 2008, 9:30 am 30 McGill Street, Montreal (Metro Square Victoria)

Please come out to court in a simple, concrete act of solidarity with the Charkaoui family and others who are being subject to arbitrary detention and threatened with torture in the name of "national security".

Round two of Charkaoui's security certificate process will begin on Wednesday, under the new-but-not-different law. In this hearing, Charkaoui and his lawyers will ask the Federal Court to implement the second ruling of the Supreme Court in Charkaoui's case ( [link] )

[ Read the rest ... ]