Minister blames Zaoui's lawyers for asylum delays

4.30pm

Immigration Minister Lianne Dalziel says Ahmed Zaoui's lawyers are to blame for delays in dealing with the Algerian's bid for asylum.

Mr Zaoui was moved from a high security prison to a remand facility in Auckland yesterday.

His supporters claim his treatment in New Zealand has been cruel and he should be freed while the Government decides whether Mr Zaoui is a security risk.

Ms Dalziel today defended his treatment and hinted that his lawyers were only telling half the story about the former Algerian politician

"I have been put in a terrible position because I can't actually respond to all of the allegations... the critical information is not in the public arena and for New Zealand security will not be, Ms Dalziel told National Radio.

Mr Zaoui's lawyers are going to the High Court seeking to find out on what basis the Government had issued a Security Risk Certificate against him.

Ms Dalziel said that information was classified and would never be released.

"If we as a country do not treat classified security information confidentially we simply won't receive it."

Mr Zaoui's lawyers knew that and were just seeking to delay a final decision.

"The bottom line is that case is being fought in the media because the lawyers know they have no right to access the classified security information."

Mr Zaoui had been moved because no one had anticipated him being held in prison so long, Ms Dalziel said.

Mr Zaoui was detained after arriving in New Zealand on a false passport last December because of allegations he was connected to a terrorist group, but he was cleared by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority.

However, instead of being allowed to live freely in New Zealand as a refugee he was declared a security risk by the Government.

The case is being reviewed by the service's Inspector-General Laurie Greig and the allegations against Mr Zaoui remain secret.

Reacting to Ms Dalziel's criticism of the time the legal process was taking, one of Mr Zaoui's lawyers, Richard McLeod, said he did not believe his client should even be kept in custody. That he was, and had been kept in effective isolation, was a choice Government officials had made.

"Our contention is that Ahmed Zaoui should not be in detention at all, he is not a threat to national security in any way...

"It's a man's life that is on the line here. Mr Zaoui is committed to this process, he could just pull the plug at any time and leave, but leaving for him would ultimately result in deportation to torture and death.

"The stakes for him are very, very high indeed."

He said while the legal process was lengthy it was necessary.

"We're going though a legal process, this is unchartered territory ... it's a test case."

Mr McLeod said fundamental human rights were at stake.

"One of the fundamental principles of a free and democratic society is this right to fairness and natural justice. We believe those principles should apply in this review of the security risk certificate."

Ms Dalziel did not know how long it would take to end the process, but Mr Zaoui's lawyers had extended it by making the baseless challenge in the High Court.

"It is not inconsistent with the Bill of Rights to weigh up and balance between the rights of the individual to know information that is being held about them and being acted on and a Government's obligation to protects its citizens."

Mr Zaoui had been in isolation at Paremoremo prison for nearly 11 months, before he was moved to Auckland Central Remand Prison (ACRP) after the Corrections Department decided it was unnecessary to hold him in high security isolation.

At ACRP -- a high-medium facility -- he would have contact with other prisoners and would be allowed visitors for 1-1/2 hours a day, four days a week, instead of once a week at maximum security Paremoremo.

Corrections spokesman Phil McCarthy said Mr Zaoui's treatment at Paremoremo was not as bad as some had painted.

"Mr Zaoui, though physically separated from other inmates, has lived in a large, grille-fronted cell, which has a radio and television.

"He has been able to leave that cell, either in a corridor area where he can see other inmates, in a workshop, or in an exercise yard, for 4-1/2 hours per day.

"He has had many visitors... and twice-weekly phone calls to his family."

His new cell is about 2.5m by 4m, has artificial lights and a small window, in a wing with about 30 other inmates.

Amnesty International executive director Ced Simpson said moving Mr Zaoui was "better than nothing", but would not change "the substance of the issue".

As long as Mr Zaoui was not allowed to know allegations against him, or even the sources, he was unable to adequately defend himself, Mr Simpson said.

- NZPA