Zaoui loses High Court appeal for freedom

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Algerian Ahmed Zaoui has lost his High Court bid for freedom.

His lawyers had argued he should be released to the Mangere Detention Centre or into the care of the Auckland Dominican community because of the long duration of his imprisonment and his deteriorating mental and physical state.

But yesterday Justice Barry Paterson turned those arguments down.

"I accept the basic proposition that the effects of detention on asylum seekers suggest that for humane reasons, Mr Zaoui should be removed to a facility other than a prison," the judge said. "The difficulty is that there appears to be no other secure facility at which he can be detained in accordance [with provisions of the Immigration Act].

"Mr Zaoui may be unfortunate in being the first person to be the subject of a security-risk certificate in this country. If there are good reasons for there to be a purpose-built facility for such purposes then that is a matter for Parliament or the Executive and not for the courts.

"This court can only apply the law as it sees it, including the statutory provisions."

Mr Zaoui has been held in prison since December 2002 while the security-risk certificate is reviewed.

But delay has followed delay and the review now awaits a Court of Appeal decision on whether the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, who is carrying out the review, has to take Mr Zaoui's human rights into account.

In his judgment, Justice Paterson said he had considered the suitability of ordering that Mr Zaoui be detained at the Mangere Refugee Centre but said it was used for detaining people at a lower level of risk than those subject to a security risk certificate.

Nor was he satisfied that there had been a breach of Mr Zaoui's rights.

One of Mr Zaoui's lawyers, Deborah Manning, said she broke the news to Mr Zaoui yesterday and although disappointed he had tried to put on a brave face.

She said Mr Zaoui's imprisonment did not make sense because he had been released under house arrest in every other country he had been in.

"His treatment here has been justified on his time in Europe - which never gave him a jail sentence.

"I think New Zealand immigration law in this respect is far behind the UK and Canada ... The legislation is flawed and needs review."


Herald Feature: Ahmed Zaoui, parliamentarian in prison

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