by Tonda MacCharles
Source: The Toronto Star
URL: [link]
Date: December 10, 2010


[Photo: Mohamed Harkat, right, wells up with tears as his wife Sophie Harkat looks on during a press conference in Ottawa on Friday Dec. 10, 2010. Harkat said he will appeal a Federal Court ruling Thursday that he remains a threat to national security.]

OTTAWA—A combative Sophie Harkat lashed out at a federal court judge for relying on secret evidence from an unnamed informant whom she said was a witness at her and Mohamed Harkat’s wedding.

Thursday’s ruling, which upheld CSIS’ claims that Mohamed Harkat is a terrorist supporter who should be deported, was like a “punch in the guts,” Sophie Harkat said.

“My husband said to me, ‘I am dying inside,’” she said while sobbing at a news conference. She said the two were “devastated” upon learning the judge had ruled against him on the basis of evidence that was never revealed to him or his lawyer, but seen only by government-appointed “special advocates.”

In broken English, Harkat said “I swear on my life” that he is innocent of all allegations against him. He said he was “never” involved in terrorism in the past or in the future. “I never be a part of bin Laden network in my life.” He said he fears prison, torture or death if returned to Algeria.

Harkat said he never denied using a fraudulent Saudi passport to enter Canada. His wife said the government acknowledged in court that 80 per cent of refugee claimants use false documents to enter.

He also said he never intended to end up here upon leaving Algeria, but his attempts to build a life in Pakistan faltered when “the situation got worse” there in the mid-90s.

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