Mohamed Harkat - another suspected Muslim terrorist gets to prolong his stay in Canada

From CanWest News via the National Post (Judge halts Ottawa’s attempt to deport Mohamed Harkat by Andrew Duffy, May 11, 2007):

A Federal Court judge has shut down the government's attempt to deport Mohamed Harkat before Parliament puts in place a security-certificate law that conforms to the Constitution.

Judge Francois Lemieux on Friday ordered a permanent stay on the process leading to Harkat's removal to Algeria.

[Hyphenated_Canadian: Canada's most notorious Muslim terrorist, Ahmed Ressam, the Millenium bomber, was a failed asylum seeker from Algeria. Even after his refugee claim was rejected, he was not deported because Ottawa thought the situation in Algeria was too dangerous.]

The federal government had been seeking to move ahead with that removal - even though the Supreme Court of Canada has said the hearing that found Harkat to be a terrorist is fundamentally unjust.

Harkat, an Algerian refugee, was working as a gas station attendant in Ottawa when he was taken into custody on the strength of a security certificate in 2002 and accused of being an al-Qaeda sleeper agent.

Lemieux said Harkat could be denied the benefit of the Supreme Court's decision if the deportation process was allowed to proceed.

[. . .]

Read all of Andrew Duffy's article.

Harkat claims he will be tortured if he is returned to Algeria. In 1995, Manickavasagam Suresh, a Sri Lankan refugee accused by CSIS of being a fundraiser for the terrorist Tamil Tigers, was ordered deported from Canada. Suresh appealed, claiming he would be tortured in Sri Lanka. He remains in Canada to this day. In 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Ottawa may in "exceptional circumstances" deport people who are at risk of being tortured. This is known as the Suresh exception. The court hasn't ruled yet what those exceptional circumstances might be. Most foreign terrorist suspects come from countries where the authorities sometimes torture prisoners. James Bisset points out:

As it now stands, we can be held for ransom by any foreign terrorist whose lawyer claims his client might be tortured if sent home.

See also:

The Judiciary and Politicians put Canadian National Security At Risk

Canada can be held for ransom by any foreign terrorist whose lawyer claims his client might be tortured if sent home - James Bissett

A message to Adil Charkaoui and other foreign terrorist suspects: this isn't your country. Shut up and go home!