ZGram - March 12, 2004 - "Ontario appeal court approves Zundel hearing"

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Zgram - Where Truth is Destiny:  Now more than ever

March 12, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

More good news on the Zundel Front!

[START]

Ontario appeal court approves Zundel hearing

By KIRK MAKIN, JUSTICE REPORTER
From Friday's Globe and Mail
March 12/04

The Ontario Court of Appeal has scheduled a rush hearing of a 
constitutional challenge by Ernst Zundel to ensure the case is heard 
before the internationally known Holocaust-denier can be deported to 
Germany.

Over objections from the Crown yesterday, Mr. Justice Marc Rosenberg 
said a three-judge panel will hear the case in mid-May.

Mr. Zundel aims to strike down a controversial anti-terrorism measure 
known as a security certificate that is used to deport non-citizens 
who may pose a security risk. A security certificate is signed by two 
federal cabinet ministers who, based on secret intelligence, decide 
that an immigrant should be deported as a danger to Canadians.

Even alleged spies and terrorists normally targeted this way are not 
permitted access to the precise allegations against them.

Judge Rosenberg made his ruling yesterday after hearing defence 
lawyers Peter Lindsay and Chi-Kun Shi argue that their client has 
been in solitary confinement for a year and faces deportation as soon 
as a Federal Court of Canada judge completes a review of his case.

They also cited a dramatic speech made by Federal Court of Canada 
judge to a security conference in 2002. It went unreported at the 
time, but Mr. Justice James Hugesson roundly condemned the security 
certificate procedure.

The veteran judge said there was widespread discomfort on the Federal 
Court bench about the way fundamental legal rights are denied under 
the process. "I can tell you because we talked about it; we hate it," 
he said. "We hate hearing only one party. We hate having to decide 
what, if any, sensitive material can or should be conveyed to the 
other party."

The judge said he felt like "a bit of a fig leaf" used to cover a 
dubious procedure.

"This is not a happy posture for a judge, and you are in fact looking 
at an unhappy camper when I tell you about this function," Judge 
Hugesson said. "With these national security affidavits, if they are 
successful in persuading the judge, they will never see the light of 
day. The fact that something improper has been said to the court may 
never be revealed."

While Justice Department lawyers strive to be fair at security 
certificate hearings, he said there is no substitute for having two 
opposing parties reveal the shortcomings of the each other's 
arguments.

"It does not matter how good and how honest the lawyer is," he said. 
"If you have a case that is only being presented on one side, you are 
not going to get a good case."

Mr. Zundel retired to the United States three years ago. Last year, 
he was arrested and returned to Canada after failing to make a 
routine appointment with U.S. Immigration Services. The federal 
government commenced deportation proceedings.

Mr. Justice Pierre Blais of the Federal Court of Canada has been 
conducting a review of the certificate for several months, and is 
scheduled to hear final arguments in early May. Since there is no 
appeal of a certificate review, an adverse decision would mean Mr. 
Zundel's immediate deportation.

"If this proceeding is not expedited, it will likely be moot," Mr. 
Lindsay told Judge Rosenberg yesterday. "The German government has 
already offered to pick Mr. Zundel up on two existing warrants for 
denying the Holocaust. Mr. Zundel could be on a plane to Germany and 
a jail cell before his constitutional rights are determined."

Mr. Zundel lived in Canada for 42 years with a clean criminal record.

However, Crown counsel Donald MacIntosh argued that the courts have 
already effectively decided against the constitutional issues Mr. 
Zundel intends to raise. He said that in any case, an Ontario Court 
of Appeal ruling would not be binding on Federal Court judges.

The only unclassified portion of the security certificate against Mr. 
Zundel accuses him of being a dangerous preacher of anti-Semitic, 
white-supremacist hatred. Even if he doesn't advocate violence, it 
reads, he is dangerous because he's seen as a guru by those who do.

Of the 27 security certificates issued since 1991 — only five since 
the 9/11 attack — virtually all have involved suspected terrorists 
from such countries as Iran and Algeria.

[END]

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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