Latest Zaoui freedom bid rejected

Another minister has refused an application to free asylum-seeker Ahmed Zaoui.

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

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

Mr Swain's rejection follows a similar request to Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel to transfer Mr Zaoui from Auckland remand prison to the Mangere refuge resettlement centre.

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

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 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.

Mr Swain said in a letter to Mr Zaoui's lawyers that he could not use his discretion as Corrections Minister to release someone detained under the Immigration Act.

- NZPA

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