Nov 3, 2004
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
Here is the latest on the Zundel-Saga - with more to come
later in the day!
[START]
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20
Judge assailed at Zundel hearing
Holocaust denier's lawyer criticizes 'Draconian'
security certificate process 'that has no place in a democracy'
By KIRK MAKIN GLOBE & MAIL JUSTICE REPORTER
Wednesday, Nov 3, 2004
Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel's 18-month deportation hearing
ended on a fiery note yesterday, as his lawyer accused the Federal Court
judge hearing the case of actively "embracing" the extraordinary
secrecy provisions that surrounded it.
In what was likely Mr. Zundel's final appearance in a
Canadian courtroom, defence lawyer Peter Lindsay said he makes no apologies
for harshly criticizing Mr. Justice Pierre Blais.
"There is a reason for it," he said. "Your
lordship has awesome, extraordinary powers to hear secret evidence without
safeguards."
Mr. Lindsay also condemned the security certificate
procedure being used to deport Mr. Zundel as a Draconian provision that has
no place in a democracy.
"I will say that the emperor has no clothes," Mr.
Lindsay said, leaving it vague as to whether he was referring to the
legislation or to Judge Blais.
As a former federal solicitor-general, Judge Blais had
responsibility for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service -- the agency
that furnished the evidence against Mr. Zundel.
Mr. Lindsay also quoted yesterday from a speech given a
couple of years ago by Mr. Justice James Hugesson of the Federal Court, who
explicitly stated that many of his colleagues despise the security
certificate procedure.
In stark contrast, Mr. Lindsay said, Judge Blais went
overboard maintaining secrecy.
Mr. Zundel, a landed immigrant since 1958, has no right of
appeal if Judge Blais concludes there was nothing "unreasonable"
about a deportation order approved in early 2003 by two federal ministers.
He would be deported immediately to Germany to face
prosecution for the offence of Holocaust denial.
Mr. Zundel has been in and out of Canadian courtrooms since
the early 1980s over his persistent publication of material depicting the
Holocaust as a myth propagated to vilify Germans and justify massive war
reparations.
Almost all previous attempts to imprison or deport Mr.
Zundel or damage his publishing empire have gone down to defeat.
The security certificate describes Mr. Zundel as a danger to
Canadian security, alleging that his writing inspires others to violence.
Most of the evidence against him has been given to Judge
Blais in strict secrecy.
"While I listened to the submissions of the Crown, this
started to sound less and less like a case involving the security of Canada,
and more and more about someone who is unpopular and who distributes
material that is unpopular and reviled," Mr. Lindsay said.
"Mr. Zundel is not a danger to Canada in any way, shape
or form."
CSIS alleges that Mr. Zundel has advised and encouraged
about 25 figures on the far right who espouse violence -- including a U.S.
writer whose book was found among the possessions of Oklahoma bomber Timothy
McVeigh.
Mr. Lindsay used the case yesterday to illustrate the
tortured connections he accuses the Crown of using to portray Mr. Zundel as
a dangerous man.
He drew a parallel with the murderer of former Beatle John
Lennon -- John Hinckley Jr. -- who drew inspiration from J.D. Salinger's
book, /The Catcher in the Rye/.
"It is as if the government were saying that somebody
who had sporadic contact with J.D. Salinger was linked to the murder of John
Lennon," he said.
Mr. Lindsay went through the CSIS list methodically, stating
that each of them was either an individual Mr. Zundel didn't know
personally, knew very casually, or who he had habitually lectured against
espousing violence.
In an interview after the hearing, Mr. Lindsay said he has
high hopes for a Federal Court of Appeal motion on Nov. 23.
The hearing is an appeal of Judge Blais's recent decision
not to recuse himself on the grounds of apparent bias.
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Find out who this "premier thought criminal" really is -
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Reminder:
Help free Ernst Zundel, Prisoner of Conscience. His
prison sketches - now on-line and highly popular - help pay for his defence.
Take a look - and tell a friend.
http://www.zundelsite.org/gallery/donations/index.html
Write to Canada's Prime Minister and complain
over the unfair treatment Ernst Zündel has received.
Prime Minister Paul Martin
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
Email: Martin.P@parl.gc.ca |
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