Commission report on Zaoui case a media stunt, says Clark

11.45am

A report critical of the detention of Ahmed Zaoui appears to be a media stunt by the asylum seeker's lawyers, Prime Minister Helen Clark said today.

The report to the International Commission of Jurists said the continued detention was "prima facie unlawful".

The commission scrutinises courts around the world for breaches of human rights.

Report author Michael Kidd, an Auckland barrister, recommended lawyers apply for Mr Zaoui to be released under the common law grounds of habeas corpus, which would require the Government to show why it imprisoned him.

Dr Kidd argued the Government's refusal to give Mr Zaoui details about why he is detained is a breach of international law is "reprehensible".

Helen Clark told Newstalk ZB radio today that Dr Kidd had "elicited" a letter from the Australian chapter of the commission to act as an observer on the Zaoui case.

She said defence lawyers acting for Mr Zaoui knew Dr Kidd, and had applied for him to visit their client in jail as an "ordinary visitor".

Dr Kidd did visit, then broke commission protocols by observing Zaoui's court case without announcing to the Government why he was there.

"He ... broke all the protocols that the International Commission of Jurists itself sets out, which is that when they attend they show to the government in question that they are having a look at what is happening," she said.

"We are then told by this man -- through media yesterday -- that he had two copies of this so called report -- which is deeply flawed and inaccurate -- and he sent one to the Government and one to the defence lawyers and he himself did not leak it to the media.

"I can tell you that the first the Government knew of this purported report was when it was drawn to its attention by the Sunday Star-Times.

"I have to assume that this is another stunt to fight this case through the media and not through the courts."

Helen Clark said the Crown had considered the case ethically.

It was being confronted by a legal team prepared to fight the case through the media "knowing Crown cannot fight back".

The High Court ruled in December Mr Zaoui should be given a summary of the allegations against him, but the Government announced last week that it would appeal against that ruling.

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel said today the good name of the Commission could be damaged by a report it had not seen before its release.

Mr Zaoui had been treated according to the law, she told National Radio.

Lawyer Deborah Manning, one of those acting for Mr Zaoui, said the report to the "respected" jurists organisation was being considered.

Taking a habeas corpus case had always been an option, she said.

She indicated that now the Government had decided to appeal the High Court judgment and lengthen the legal process, a habeas corpus action was being more actively considered.

Mr Zaoui, 43, an Algerian, has spent more than a year in New Zealand prisons after arriving on a false passport and being detained by authorities on suspicion of terrorist links.

Police and the Immigration Service suspected he was a terrorist and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) issued a certificate saying he was a "threat to national security".

Mr Zaoui's lawyers say he is an innocent man who is suffering illegally inflicted psychological trauma due to his captivity.

Corrections Minister Paul Swain yesterday refused an application by Mr Zaoui's lawyers to release him into the care of the Dominican Friars, saying it would be against the law.

Mr Swain conceded that Mr Zaoui should receive a case management assessment like every other prisoner.

Ms Dalziel last week refused to transfer Mr Zaoui from Auckland remand prison to the Mangere refuge resettlement centre.

She said she had no discretion under the law, a point vehemently rejected by Mr Zaoui's lawyers.

Dr Kidd told National Radio his report was an interim one. He was hoping Ms Manning and the Government would make submissions on it.

He was "totally" independent of Mr Zaoui's defence team, he said.

He had been taken aback by attacks on him for not following commission protocol, he said.

Dr Kidd said he had asked Mr Zaoui's lawyer to arrange the prison visit for him.

Prison officials knew he was visiting on behalf of the commission, he said.

He had not leaked the report to the media, he said.

He had emailed one version to Attorney General Margaret Wilson and another to Ms Manning on Saturday.

Ms Manning had not leaked it because she had told him her computer could not open the file, he said.

Dr Kidd had given the report to those who had helped him or shown an interest. None of those was a journalist.

Ms Manning told NZPA none of Mr Zaoui's lawyers had leaked the report, as they had been unable to open the document before it appeared in the Sunday Star-Times.

"We would challenge anyone who has evidence that we did leak this report -- or were involved in the preparation of it -- to bring this evidence forward."

She faxed a letter sent to the manager of the Auckland Central Remand prison on December 29, seeking permission for Dr Kidd to visit Mr Zaoui.

That letter stated Dr Kidd "has been commissioned by the Australian (NSW) branch of the International Commission of Jurists to observe Mr Zaoui's legal matters".

"Obviously the Government is under pressure from this critical report," Ms Manning said.

"We look forward to their response to matters raised in the report."

- NZPA

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