ZGram - 11/26/2003 - "Another legal round lost in Absurdistan"

[zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org]

Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever!

November 26, 2003

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

The article below is self-explanatory.  The Zundel Legal Team has 
lost another round in Absurdistan.  I consider the article itself 
fair except for the final comment that Ernst "fled" to the United 
States "to be with his wife". 

Ernst did not "flee" anything or anybody.  Both he and I together or 
he alone traveled back and forth to Canada after we were married in 
2000, because Ernst kept his publishing business going in Canada for 
an entire year while the Human Rights Tribunal against the Zundelsite 
was still in session. 

It is true that he gave up on believing that justice could be had in 
Canada after this same Tribunal ruled that "Truth is not a defense." 
In its final judgment, the Tribunal admitted that the ruling against 
Ernst was "symbolic" and could not be enforced.  They admitted that 
had they allowed me to testify, as I offered at my own expense and 
inconvenience, the five-year-human rights tribunal hearings could 
never have been conducted.

Ernst will be meeting with his attorneys today to decide which legal 
front to tackle next.  Here is the wire article itself:

[START]

Wed, November 26, 2003

Ontario judge rules she doesn't have jurisdiction to hear Zundel Charter case

TORONTO (CP) - Holocaust denier Ernst Zundel has lost his bid to be 
released from prison while his immigration case is heard.

Zundel's lawyers had argued in Superior Court that his continued 
detention was a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and 
also challenged the validity of the Immigration and Refugee 
Protection Act. Ontario Superior Court Justice Mary Lou Benotto ruled 
Tuesday in favour of the Crown, which had sought a stay of 
proceedings on the grounds the matter should be dealt with in Federal 
Court. Zundel's lawyer, Peter Lindsay, said his client is 
disappointed with the decision.

All Canadians should be concerned that the Immigration and Refugee 
Act allows people to be "incarcerated in solitary confinement for 
months or years without ever being accused of a crime," Lindsay said 
in a statement late Tuesday.

In her decision Tuesday, Benotto wrote: "This court declines 
jurisdiction and grants the Crown's motion.

"The application here is an attempt to bypass the comprehensive 
statutory scheme and usurp a process currently underway," said 
Benotto. "The applicant has not met the test to have this court 
assume jurisdiction and it would be inappropriate to do so."

Zundel, who has no criminal record in Canada and is not facing any 
charges, has been in solitary confinement since February after being 
deported to Canada for overstaying a visitor's visa in the United 
States.

He is being held in jail on a security certificate while the courts 
determine whether he is a security risk to Canada and should be 
deported to his native Germany.

The detention review to determine whether Zundel, 64, is a risk to 
Canadian security is scheduled to resume Dec. 10.

When he was jailed in February, Zundel applied for refugee status in 
Canada. He was denied release by the Immigration and Refugee Board 
three times before Ottawa suspended the application May 2, one day 
after the security certificate was issued.

Zundel, who has lived in Canada since 1958, fled to Tennessee to be 
with his wife before a January 2002 ruling by the Canadian Human 
Rights Commission that a website he controls spreads anti-Semitic 
messages.

He remains in solitary confinement at Toronto's Metro West Detention Centre.

[END]