Supporters of an Ottawa man accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent hope a leaked memo about torture will prompt change in his case and the security certificate system. A Jan. 15, 2008 letter was sent by former CSIS head Jim Judd to the public security minister as the government worked to amend a security-certificate law struck down by the courts, according to the Montreal Gazette, which obtained the letter. Judd wrote that amending the law to keep courts from using information from countries where there’s “reasonable grounds” to believe torture is used would “significantly hinder” the security-certificate program, according to the Gazette. Making information derived from torture inadmissible would “render (the security-certificate program) unsustainable.” But the law was amended. Matthew Webber, lawyer for security-certificate detainee Mohamed Harkat, said he wants to know why that hasn’t led to the collapse of any of the security-certificate cases. “If Judd was saying this to the government back in 2008, one cannot help but conclude that, in at least one, if not more, of the cases, there was reliance on evidence obtained by torture or derivative of torture,” he said. His client Mohamed Harkat was arrested in 2002 in Ottawa and detained on a security certificate. Harkat was released from detention to strict house arrest in 2006. His security certificate alleges he had ties to “the bin Laden network” and that there “are reasonable grounds to believe (he) has engaged or will engage in terrorism,” according to court documents. Copyright 2001-2011, Free Daily News Group Inc.