Montrealer Adil Charkaoui suffered a defeat at the Supreme Court of Canada Thursday morning when the high court rejected his request to contest the constitutionality of the security certificate issued against him two years ago.

Charkaoui's lawyer, Johanne Doyon, says his client wants to contest the constitutionality of the security certificate because he believes it contravenes his fundamental human rights.

Doyon said his client sought approval to appeal a judgement of the Federal Appeals Court that refused his right to appeal the judgement that has kept Charkaoui in prison.

Charkaoui, a graduate student at the Université de Montréal is one of five immigrants of Arab origin who are being held in detention in Canada on the basis of a security certificate. This rare legal procedure permits the detention of individuals considered to be a threat to national security without any proof being made public.

CORRECTION: There are errors in the above story. Concerning the Supreme Court refusal which was released yesterday in the Charkaoui case, please take note that the refusal did not have to do with the constitutional questions about Security Certificates nor with the validity of the detention measures. The appeal of the judgement on these questions is currently in the Federal Court of Appeals. Yesterday's refusal was only about the question of the existence of the right to appeal the detention review, in this case the one which took place in July 2003.