OTTAWA – Lawyers for Mohamed Harkat, who faces the prospect of being deported to his native Algeria where he contends he will be tortured or killed, say they will appeal a Federal Court decision that branded Harkat a member of Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network and a threat to national security.
In a 186-page judgment released Thursday, Judge Simon Noel endorsed the government’s view of Harkat as an active and dangerous member of the extremist network allied with al-Qaida.
But at a news conference Friday Harkat’s wife, Sophie, said: "We will never ever accept this judgment."
Visibly angry and speaking through tears she said the judge’s decision has "ruined our lives and the ones of our family. Our thoughts for the future have been destroyed in an instant."
Sophie Harkat said the use of secret evidence was wrong and that if returned to Algeria her husband will be jailed, tortured and killed.
Defence lawyer Matt Webber vows to fight any attempt to send Harkat, 42, back to the country from which he fled in 1990.
Thursday’s Federal Court judgment, Webber charges, relies heavily on evidence heard in secret that wasn’t available to Harkat’s defence team. "So we come out of this," he said, "still feeling as if we were deprived of the ability to meaningfully respond to the allegations."
Harkat, a former pizza delivery man and gas station attendant, has lived in Ottawa since September 1995.Ê
A federal immigration officer must now assess whether Harkat faces a significant risk of torture if deported to Algeria, and whether that is outweighed by the danger he poses to Canada.
Harkat testified he fled Algeria because of a crackdown on the political party to which he belonged, the Front Islamique du Salut. He said he came to Canada as a refugee in October 1995 after spending five years in Pakistan as an aid worker. He denied any connection to terrorism.
Harkat’s bail conditions will remain the same for now, but that could change in the near future. The judge asked lawyers to make submissions on what changes are needed within 15 days.
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