Enemy of the State: Lawyer Deborah Manning on Ahmed Zaoui and his arrest in Algeria

Ahmed Zaoui with lawyer Deborah Manning in 2007 ahead of a pivotal court hearing. Photo / Dean Purcell

Barrister Deborah Manning has spoken of her deepest fear for “political prisoner” Ahmed Zaoui as she finds herself again fighting for his freedom - this time from a prison in his home country of Algeria.

“For anybody who works in the area of refugee law, the worst fear is for the worst to happen. There’s only a number of scenarios here about what can happen for Mr Zaoui,” Manning said.

“When I think about that, I invariably come back to Mr Zaoui’s poem that he wrote in detention [in New Zealand]... to the discipline of hope we all learned through that case.”

Manning spoke to journalist John Keir for a special edition of Enemy of the State, the NZ Herald podcast that traced the history of the Zaoui case and revealed aspects hidden for as much as two decades.

It is 21 years since Zaoui arrived in New Zealand as a refugee from Algeria, only to be imprisoned under the first-ever “security risk” certificate issued by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service. Manning’s investigation and legal representation was key to freeing Zaoui and clearing his name in a battle that ranged over years.

Zaoui was eventually granted New Zealand citizenship, then in 2019 decided to return to Algeria in the belief the political heat had calmed and he and his family would be safe.

But last month, he was arrested in a pre-dawn raid by Algerian security forces and is now in prison awaiting trial for subversion on the basis of a communique he and others had drafted calling for peace and unity.

Lawyer Deborah Manning.

“The authorities considered that call for peace and unity to be subversive and a challenge to their authority,” she told Keir.

“Mr Zaoui is again in arbitrary detention for expressing a peaceful political opinion.”

Manning said law school didn’t cover what one should do when a client is in prison in a foreign country that is an authoritarian regime and is a New Zealand citizen. She said it was “unprecedented”.

“I would consider him to be a political prisoner. It’s a serious, perilous situation for him.

“It’s a situation I never wanted to be in. I’m sure it’s a situation Mr Zaoui and his family never wanted to be in either.”

Zaoui was now facing 20 years in prison under a section of law that included the death penalty. Manning had high praise for the assistance offered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who she described as “Incredibly professional and humane”.

Ahmed Zaoui at his new home in Algeria.

Outlining the background to Zaoui’s arrest and detention, Manning said he had held a political meeting in his home, where those present co-operated to write a communique which called for peace, with the wellbeing of the Algerian people put first.

Manning said Zaoui had always carried out risk assessments over the years, but in this instance the exercise had clearly failed.

“The force of it and the ongoing detention has been a surprise to those looking on at this situation.”