Nov 25, 2004
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1101333207257_43/?hub=Canada
Ernst Zundel sues Ottawa over imprisonment
Canadian Press
TORONTO — Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel filed a lawsuit
against the federal government Wednesday alleging that the nearly two years
he's spent behind bars were a violation of his constitutional rights.
Word of the suit came after Zundel's most recent bid to
forestall his deportation to Germany -- a motion seeking the removal of the
Federal Court judge hearing his case -- was formally denied by the Federal
Court of Appeal.
The lawsuit seeks only costs and a declaration that Zundel,
65, be freed and that keeping him in solitary confinement without charges
for more than 20 months violated his Charter rights, said lawyer Peter
Lindsay.
''There's no monetary compensation sought apart from the
costs of the action,'' Lindsay said in an interview.
"This is not a lawsuit about money. This is a lawsuit
about principle and about procedural fairness or unfairness. Not a dime is
being sought.''
On Tuesday, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed Lindsay's
motion to have Justice Pierre Blais, whom Lindsay accused of being biased
against his client, removed from the case.
Zundel is being held under a rarely-used security
certificate, which classifies him as a risk to Canadian security based on
secret evidence which Blais will use to decide whether the certificate is
reasonable.
''If he decides it is reasonable, then it becomes a removal
order and there's no appeal and there's no right of judicial review,''
Lindsay said.
"If he decides it's unreasonable, then it would be
quashed and that would be the end of it . . . (but) we're concerned the
result will be a negative result.''
Like the many lawyers in Canada who have found themselves
before Federal Court judges in recent years, trying to defend against
evidence they're not even allowed to see, Lindsay said defending his client
has been a frustrating task.
''How can I answer a case that I don't know what the case
is?'' he asked.
"How is it fair that one side gets to present evidence,
the judge gets to consider that evidence, the other side doesn't even know
what the evidence is and is somehow supposed to challenge it?''
Zundel was in and out of courtrooms in Canada in the early
1980s over his persistent publication of material depicting the Holocaust as
a myth propagated to vilify Germans and justify massive war reparations.
A resident of Canada for 42 years, Zundel was jailed last
year upon his return to Canada after overstaying his visa in the U.S. In
Germany, he faces charges of suspicion of incitement to hatred.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service alleges Zundel
has advised and encouraged some 25 people who advocate violence, including
an American writer whose book was found among the possessions of convicted
Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his
challenge of the constitutional validity of the security certificate review
process under which he was declared inadmissible to Canada.
Meanwhile, there's no indication when Blais might deliver
the ruling that would determine Zundel's fate, Lindsay said.
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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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