ZGram - 9/29/2004 - "Six more months of solitary for Zundel" - Part II

zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Wed Sep 29 04:19:15 EDT 2004





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

September 29, 2004

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Herewith Paul Fromm's write-up about Ernst Zundel's continuing 
detention in solitary confinement - a cell where pens are forbidden 
as "dangerous weapons", where the light is kept on  24 hours a day, 
where strip searches are ordered after a friend's visit behind 
bullet-proof glass or even a telephone call, where to receive a 
pillow calls for a ministerial okay, and where tap water mixed with a 
dash of orange juice to keep the blood pressure down is called 
"self-medication" and, hence, disallowed:

[START]

Dear Free Speech Supporter:

Welcome to the Northern Banana Republic, Absurdistan, where an 
autocratic regime keeps political dissidents in jail. With Irwin 
Cotler, a militant Zionist as Justice Minister, and federal 
politicians massively lobbied by outspoken Zionist groups that are 
sworn enemies of free speech, Canada is increasingly a place where 
political dissent can land you in prison.

It's no surprise. Although he had promised his decision a week 
earlier, on September 22, Mr. Justice Pierre Blais announced that 
Canada's most famous political prisoner Ernst Zundel must spend 
another six months in solitary confinement. You see, the lifelong 
pacifist who has never been charged, much less convicted of a crime 
of violence in Canada or anywhere else, is accused by Canada's 
corrupt Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS) of being a 
"terrorist" and, therefore, a threat to national security.

Judge Blais has been so hopelessly hostile to Mr. Zundel and his 
several lawyers that the decision was a foregone conclusion. After 
all, he had said, during Mr. Zundel's testimony in July 2003, that he 
didn't believe him. On January 21, he had concluded that "there are 
reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Zundel continues to be a 
danger to national security or to the safety of any person" and, 
therefore, ordered his continued incarceration.

Mr. Zundel has not, of course, been charged with any crime. In his 
January 21 decision, Mr. Justice Blais had, in fact, ruled on the 
substance of the case: whether it was "reasonable" for the ministers 
to sign the CSIS national security certificate last May 1. Well, if 
there are reasonable grounds to believe Mr. Zundel is a danger to 
national security, it would seem that the judge has already made up 
his mind.

None of this is surprising. Pierre Blais was the former boss of CSIS. 
In 1989, as Solicitor-General in the Mulroney government, he was in 
charge of CSIS, interestingly, at the very time they were knee deep 
in dirty tricks spying on the fledgling Reform Party and the Heritage 
Front. In November. Mr. Zundel's then lead counsel Douglas H,. 
Christie made a motion calling on Judge Blais to recuse himself. He 
refused. More. recently, on September 14, Peter Lindsay, Mr. Zundel's 
current lead counsel, made a similar motion now based on a ponderous 
record of biased decisions against Mr. Zundel.

Judge Blais's decision consigning the 65-year-old German publisher to 
another six months in jail -- a form of indefinite detention -- is a 
masterpiece of deception. Judge Blais criticized Mr. Zundel and Mr. 
Lindsay for not clarifying Mr. Zundel's relationship with a host of 
people, linked to him by guilt-by-association in the report filed 
with the certificate. Mr. Zundel, in testimony in July 2003 and this 
spring did clarify these relationships, such as they were.

Now Judge Blais seems to suggest that Mr. Zundel should be further 
punished for his criticism of CSIS's hostility toward him: "Mr. 
Zundel decided not to address these issued and not to clarify his 
relationship with those individuals and organizations. Mr. Zundel 
decided to demonstrate that he is more or less a victim of a vendetta 
by CSIS against him." (12) One wonders whether Judge Blais was 
sleeping on July 27, August 30 and 31. In dramatic testimony, Douglas 
Christie, the "Battling Barrister" from Victoria gave his 
observations of nearly 20 years of representing Ernst Zundel, 
including an aggregate of 18 months spent over the years living at 
Zundelhaus in Toronto.

Mr. Christie was emphatic about Mr. Zundel's outspoken contempt for 
people who resort to violence or talk about violence. He specifically 
addressed Mr. Zundel's relationship to all the persons mentioned in 
the report. His conclusion was that Mr. Zundel was admired by many 
people, but that young people, far from looking to him as a guru, 
thought he was out of touch and tended to ignore his advice. Mr. 
Christie characterized Mr. Zundel's supporters as largely German and 
Anglo, ageing, and extremely law-abiding. Mr. Christie is, of course, 
a gentleman and an officer of the Court. One might think that his 
testimony might count for something.

Once again, former CSIS boss Mr. Justice Pierre Blais upholds the 
preposterous.  "I would agree with counsel for the Ministers that, 
even though counsel for Mr. Zundel has shown dissatisfaction with the 
disclosure of the evidence, Mr. Zundel has received adequate 
disclosure in this case. " (27) Despite numerous secret hearings, 
including one at noon the day Mr. John Farrell, former CSIS operative 
and mail thief testified, Mr. Justice Blais has not revealed a single 
extra scrap of information to the defence.

The fiction is that secret evidence is given to the judge in camera 
and he must assess whether divulging this information would be 
injurious to national security. It beggars belief that not a single 
piece of information fails to meet this test.

However, Judge Blais's understanding of a threat to national security 
is so broad that he refuses to tell the defence even how many days of 
secret evidence have been heard.

Can't tell us: "National security!"

Paul Fromm

Director

CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR FREE EXPRESSION INC.

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