Canadian terror suspect fights deportation to Morocco By PHIL COUVRETTE Associated Press Writer MONTREAL Two years of living under the threat of deportation to a country where he could be tortured has left a suspected terrorist in a state of psychological distress, a Federal Court in Canada heard on Wednesday.
Adil Charkaoui, 32, was detained for 21 months on allegations that he is a sleeper agent for Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, before being released on bail in February. He was in Federal Court this week to argue that threats to deport him to his native Morocco are in violation of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as the U.N. Convention Against Torture and have left him psychologically frail. "A psychiatrist has made me undergo tests and according to her I suffer from post-traumatic stress," Charkaoui told The Associated Press during a break in the proceedings. Charkaoui is challenging Canadian legislation that permits deportation of non-citizens to countries where they may face torture and death. Charkaoui is living under the constraints of a government security certificate, which allows federal authorities to detain terror suspects, or those deemed a threat to national security, without charge. The security certificate, a highly contentious provision of Canada's Immigration Act strengthened after the 9/11 terror attacks, means some evidence against Charkaoui is known only by the government and the judge. This summer, Canada's Supreme Court agreed to hear Charkaoui's challenge of the certificates. In his Federal Court hearing, Charkaoui was seeking to prevent his impending deportation while he awaits the Supreme Court hearing, likely next year. Four other men, all Muslim Arabs, are currently being detained under the security certificates, which have been condemned by human rights groups. All the suspects claim their innocence and argue they risk torture or execution if returned to their native Algeria, Morocco, Syria and Egypt. "Torture is criminal in this country," Charkaoui's lawyer Johanne Doyon argued on Wednesday. "Why would it be any different with immigrants?" Daniel Latulippe, representing the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, argued that while deporting someone to a country where he may be tortured is rare, it is not impossible under "exceptional circumstances," such posing a risk to national security. "You have the power to look at these `exceptional circumstances' and decide whether they are sufficient," he told Judge Simon Noel. "You can intervene and say that the evidence is worthless. But this makes the process in accordance with the Charter." Charkaoui, in turns, argues that he is innocent. "In my case, nothing has been proven, I was falsely accused of simply having the profile of a sleeper agent," he said. Convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam _ the so-called "millennium bomber" who lived in Montreal before being nabbed in December 1999 trying to enter the United States on a ferry from British Columbia with a car trunkload of explosives intended for an attack on Los Angeles International Airport _ reportedly told authorities he had seen Charkaoui in a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan in 1997 or 1998. 051005 225358 Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. FAIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. 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