Zaoui takes freedom bid to High Court

By CATHERINE MASTERS

Algerian political prisoner Ahmed Zaoui is taking his fight to stay in New Zealand to the High Court following key rulings issued by the Inspector-General of Security and Intelligence.

Retired judge Laurie Greig has said he will not take human rights into consideration in his review of a national security risk certificate issued against Mr Zaoui, the first to be issued in New Zealand.

Mr Greig has also told Mr Zaoui's lawyers that allegations levelled against the prisoner by the Security Intelligence Service will stay secret.

Mr Zaoui's lawyers will file proceedings in the High Court in the next few days for a judicial review challenging Mr Greig's rulings, saying they contravene New Zealand's Bill of Rights and international human rights obligations.

"We think these rights are fundamental, and all the while during this process a man's life hangs in the balance," said lawyer Richard McLeod.

"The ruling effectively means he will be fighting for his rights with his hands tied behind his back."

Mr Zaoui has been cleared of any terrorist links by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority. For 11 months he has been in solitary confinement at maximum-security Paremoremo prison pending the outcome of Mr Greig's review of the certificate.

But this could change as early as today, with reports in Wellington last night suggesting that Mr Zaoui could be moved to Auckland Central Remand Prison.

The Herald understands that rather than alleging Mr Zaoui is a suspected terrorist, the certificate alleges he is a "threat to national security" under section 72 of the Immigration Act, which means he may be deported.

Mr Zaoui's lawyers say they have no idea under what grounds their client constitutes a threat.

Said Mr McLeod: "We don't know whether the threat relates to something that he's done or whether it's something that he could do in the future or whether it relates to something that someone might do to him in New Zealand.

"We're saying that he has the right to be able to properly defend himself by knowing what the allegations against him are, and that is a right that is guaranteed by our own Bill of Rights Act."

Mr Zaoui is a democratically elected politician in his country but fled after a military coup. A decade of bloodshed has followed in Algeria, with widespread accusations of slaughter by the ruling regime.

Lawyer Deborah Manning said Mr Zaoui had thought carefully about going to the High Court and had decided to do so because he wanted to be able to defend himself.

"Whenever Mr Zaoui has been given the allegations against him he's been able to fight them, he's been able to disprove them and show that they've come from the Algerian regime."

Amnesty International's New Zealand director, Ced Simpson, said it was important that the procedures under the Immigration Act were fully tested in the High Court.

The move to the High Court comes after demands by religious and human rights leaders for Mr Zaoui to be moved from solitary and calls to disclose the information against him.