"FEDS GET ANOTHER SECRET HEARING TO DELAY ZUNDEL'S BAIL"- Day 1
 

Dec 11, 2003

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

Here is the first installment of the three-day bail hearing (December 10-12) to get Ernst released from the clutches of his political enemies.

[START]

TORONTO. December 10, 2003.

FEDS GET ANOTHER SECRET HEARING TO DELAY ZUNDEL'S BAIL

Mr. Justice Pierre Blais has granted a request from federal cabinet ministers for yet another secret hearing in the detention or bail hearing of jailed German-born publisher Ernst Zundel. Returning from the afternoon break, Blais announced: "The Registrar informs me that the Ministers have requested a private session for new evidence. Therefore, I will not reserve" judgement this afternoon.

The 38 free speech supporters who packed the small seventh floor courtroom in support of Mr. Zundel were stunned. The afternoon session had been taken up with Crown Attorney Donald MacIntosh's arguments against granting Mr. Zundel bail after nearly 10 months in solitary confinement. Perhaps, chastened by Doug Christie's strong submissions in the morning session that he recuse himself for an apprehension of bias having been Solicitor-General in charge of CSIS, Blais repeatedly interrupted MacIntosh and challenged and dismissed many of his arguments.

It seemed that Mr. Justice Blais was on the verge of releasing the dissident pacifist on bail. Shortly before the mid-afternoon break, several observers saw Lorne Rudner of the Canadian Jewish Congress leave the room, apparently to make a phone call. He returned about 15 minutes later. After the break, the atmosphere had changed and grown distinctly frosty toward the jailed publisher. The earliest Mr. Blais can hold the secret hearings is next week. If he chooses to release any information, he may solicit further submissions from counsel before he decides, thus making Mr. Zundel's release before Christmas all but impossible.

If Blais's pre-break questioning had seemed to favour Mr. Zundel, his demeanour after the break again raised the spectre of holding Canada's most famous political prisoner hostage for the shutting down or curtailing of the Zundelsite.

Repeating that he was still "exploring options" about granting bail, but "I'm not there yet," Mr. Justice Blais pointed out that people are often restricted from doing things they have a legal right to do -- such as drinking or frequenting certain places -- as conditions of release. He seemed to hint that Mr. Zundel might be restricted from publishing his views on the Internet or somehow have to remove items ordered removed by the January, 2002 order of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Mr. Zundel has repeatedly pointed out that Ingrid Rimland, not he, owns, edits and controls the Zundelsite.

"Never before in the history of national security certificates have Internet communications been considered a factor," Douglas H. Christie, Mr. Zundel's lead counsel countered.

"The only justification for incarceration is being a threat to national security," Mr. Christie continued. "The Zundelsite is not a threat to national security and should not be held as a bail condition. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has adequate means to enforce its order."

"It's very dangerous to hold a man's freedom hostage to a website," Mr. Christie warned. "It's dangerous to detain people on national security grounds for communicating ideas that are legal in other countries. To do so is to put us on the road to national thought control," the Victoria-based civil libertarian insisted.

"There must be objective, real suspicion, not paranoid worries or political feelings, of a substantive threat to national security," to keep a man in jail, Mr. Christie argued. "We must give some value to the liberty of the individual, if we are not to become a police state."

"The Crown must prove that Mr. Zundel is a real danger to national security, not just a nuisance or political dissident," Mr. Christie insisted. Referring to Crown Attorney Donald MacIntosh, Mr. Christie observed: "The greatest vehemence of my colleague is reserved for 'hate'. My colleague throws this term around. However, Mr. Zundel has never been charged or convicted of promoting hate."

Earlier Crown Attorney MacIntosh had insisted: "If Mr. Zundel were released, he'd continue to associate with Mr. McAleer and other purveyors of hate. All these associations give us to believe that Mr. Zundel is a threat to national security."

Knowledgeable observers of Canada's populist movement report that Mr. McAleer has been politically inactive for about eight years.

Mr. MacIntosh repeatedly called Mr. Zundel "untruthful" and accused him of lying.

In the morning, Mr. Christie spoke forcefully to his motion that Mr. Justice Blais recuse himself. As Solicitor-General in 1989, Pierre Blais issued a directive that no human source should be used to surveil legitimate political parties. However, apparently disobeying him, the Canadian Security Intelligence Agency (CSIS) had agent Grant Bristow spy on Reform Party leader Preston Manning.

"It was your directive not to do something (spy on Preston Manning) that they did. The Solicitor-General-CSIS relationship is one of officially sanctioned secrecy which we cannot penetrate," Mr. Christie said. CSIS agent Grant Bristow's role in the Heritage Front "was not just to spy but to incite," Mr. Christie explained. "Mr. Zundel's contention will be that his [Bristow's] role was to incite violence. CSIS was used for political purposes. A directive was initiated by Your Lordship that such spying not be done, but CSIS did. Now CSIS appears before you and it would be hard not to agree with them."

"Our defence comes head to head with the credibility of CSIS," Mr. Christie argued. "We're saying that, as Solicitor-General, you must have known what was going on. CSIS wasn't acting in a rogue capacity and wasn't operating without ministerial consent."

"We have reason to believe that a bomb Mr. Zundel was sent [in 1995] was delivered with the foreknowledge of CSIS. When events take place like this, the integrity of the Parliamentary system is involved," Mr. Christie charged.

Mr. Justice Blais reserved on his decision, saying that he would try to announce his conclusions next week.

In his arguments against granting bail for Mr. Zundel. Donald MacIntosh said: "I rely on a large and liberal interpretation to the term 'a danger to the security of Canada.' Canada's international relations are an important part of Canada's security. Certain activities could give rise to deleterious effects on our international relations. Canada has an international obligation to take steps to see that hate propaganda is not disseminated," he said.

Intervening at that point, Mr. Justice Blais said: "Playing devil's advocate, it's no secret that these international conventions are not part of the legal framework of Canada" and are, therefore, not binding.

The hearing continues Thursday.

Paul Fromm

[END]

 

 

Write to Canada's Immigration Minister and complain over the unfair treatment Ernst Zündel has received.

Immigration Minister Denis Coderre
House of Commons 
Parliament Buildings 
Ottawa, Ontario 
K1A 0A6

Telephone: (613) 995-6108

Fax: (613) 995-9755

Email: Coderre.D@parl.gc.ca

 

 

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Table of Contents for additional articles

Revisionism 101: Basic Revisionism

Revisionism 201 for Holocaust Skeptics

"David against Goliath": Ernst Zündel, fighting the New World Order

"Lebensraum!": Ingrid Rimland, pioneering a True World Order

 

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