Dear Free Speech Supporter:
Friday dawned wet and stormy as free speech supporters
converged from across upper New York State and Southern Ontario -- London,
Hamilton, Toronto, Mississauga, Oshawa, Niagara Falls -- on the Niagara
Falls site of what was supposed to be Ernst Zundel's detention review
hearing.
At about 6:00 p.m., the evening before, Bill Reid, the
immigration offcier in charge of the revisionist publisher's case, served
him with an arrest warrant in his segregation cell in the Niagara
Detention Centre. The arrest warrant was accompanied by a rarely used
certificatre signed by Solicitor General Wayne Easter and Immigration
Minister Denis Coderre, alleging that Ernst Zundel was inadmissible to
Canada on grounds of national security pursuant to Section 77.1 of the
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The grounds for inadmissibility are truly preposterous.
The Ministers' Certificate refers to Sections 34.1.c,d,e, and f. Here's
was they say:
c) engaging in terrorism;
(d) being a danger to the security of Canada;
(e) engaging in acts of violence that would or might
endanger the lives or safety of persons in Canada;
or
(f) being a member of an organization that there are
reasonable grounds to believe engages, has engaged or will engage in acts
referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c).
And paragraphs a and b are:
(a) engaging in an act of espionage or an act of
subversion against a democratic government, institution or process as they
are understood in Canada;
(b) engaging in or instigating the subversion by force of
any government;
So, Ernst Zundel, the pacifist publisher who has never
been charged, much less convicted, of any act of violence in Canada or
elsewhere, is accused to being a terrorist, being engaged in acts of
violence that might endanger lives of persons in Canada, and of being
engaged in espionage and subversion by force.
You might as well call Mother Teresa a 2 rupee Bengali
hooker!
Zundel is a publisher, an ideas man, a communicator. His
writings, newsletters, tapes and videos are widely available. He has never
preached, much less practised, violence.
This lying wicked set of accusations is typical of a
corrupt government where truth is no defence. Indeed, in a country where
in human right law truth is not defence, it's not surprising that truth
doesn't matter.
The federal ministers, yielding to strident pressure from
groups like the Canadian Jewish Congress, have invoked a draconian section
of the Act to try to prevent Ernst Zundel from making a refugee claim.
The certificate must be referred to a judge of the Federal
Court. He must decide within seven days of the referral whether the
certificate is reasonable. He may hold secret hearings, where neither
Ernst Zundel nor his counsel can be present. He must provide Mr. Zundel
with a summary of the secret hearings and Mr. Zundel may respond. There
may also be public evidence. Section 78.e of the Act provides:
(e) on each request of the Minister or the Solicitor
General of Canada made at any time during the proceedings, the judge shall
hear all or part of the information or evidence in the absence of the
permanent resident or the foreign national named in the certificate and
their counsel if, in the opinion of the judge, its disclosure would be
injurious to national security or to the safety of any person;
Furthermore, the judge may consider anything he chooses --
gossip, hearsay, anything: Section 78 says; " The following
provisions govern the determination
(j) the judge may receive into evidence anything that, in
the opinion of the judge, is appropriate, even if it is inadmissible in a
court of law, and may base the decision on that evidence.
The judge's decision is final. There is no appeal or
judicial review. Section 80.3 of the Act is explicit:
(3) The determination of the judge is final and may not be
appealed or judicially reviewed.
Ernst Zundel's incarceration is to be reviewed within two
days of his having been served with the certificarte.
83. (1) Not later than 48 hours after the beginning of
detention of a permanent resident under section 82, a judge shall commence
a review of the reasons for the continued detention.
The rain had stopped just before 9:00. Free speech
supporters 40 strong staged a spirited protest before and after the brief
detention review hearing. Banners proclaimed: "Free Ernst Zundel"
"Stop Secret Trials" and "Ernst Zundel Political
Prisoner." Red Ensigns -- the flag of the real Canada, the Canada
that still protected Anglo-Saxon freedoms like freedom of speech --
fluttered in the grey morning sky. Niagara Region Police looked on
nervously.
Inside, an officious rent-a-cop, as part of an effort to
intimidate supporters of the political prisoner, insisted that all who
entered the hearing sign in. Lawyer Doug Christie refused, saying he'd
never had to sign in to a court in his life. Some helpful bureaucrat
signed in for him.
Neither I as [Ernst Zündel's] legal representative nor
Mr. Christie, now acting as his lawyer, was allowed to see Ernst Zundel
privately before the hearing. Zundel, carrying his cardboard box of
documents, entered the room and was greeted with sustained applause. Just
before the hearing began, Douglas Christie was presented with copies of
the Certificate and the Arrest Warrant plunked on the counsel desk.
So much for proper Notice.
Crown counsel Donald MacIntosh moved for an adjournment,
as any bail hearing would now have to be heard in Federal Court. Doug
Christie agreed, but asked to be advised by Mr. Reid of the exact time he
had served the Certificate on Ernst Zundel. This information would be
important for the record to determine the deadline (48 hours) by which a
bail hearing must begin.
MacIntosh snarled: "Certainly Mr. Reid is not going
to answer any questions."
The Adjudicator, a Cathie Simmie, an unimpressive frowsy
lady who looked as if she'd just dropped in from the bowling alley,
agreed. To say she looked informal would be an understatement. She sported
a floppy, dull, baggy shirt, with leaf patterns amd linebacker shoulder
pads, and a pair of slacks.
Mr. Zundel had a few brief moments to talk to the press
and supporters. He called Canada a "banana republic" and
insisted that this speedy rush to deportation was caused by the defence
attacks on the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and its lawless
behaviour, including its apparent collusion in an attempt to assassinate
Mr. Zundel with a pipebomb in 1995.
Len Rudner of the Canadian Jewish Congress got into some
heated arguments with Zundel supporters.
Outside the hearing, the protest resumed with even more
people joining. Two Iraqis grabbed signs. "What this all about?"
one asked. "It's to support Ernst Zundel," he was told.
"I'm for him," the man said and took a sign. His friend grinned
when he saw a sign indicating that Canada, along with nations like North
Korea, keeps writers in jail. He too hoisted a sign. The love of freedom,
this grim Friday, was infectious!
By 3:00 that afternoon, Doug Christie had arranged a
conference call with a judge in Ottawa. On Monday, May 5 Ernst Zundel's
bail hearing will begin, but without Ernst Zundel or Mr. Christie present.
In one of those hearings reminiscent of the Court of the Star Chamber. Mr.
Justice Blais will hear secret testmony in Ottawa.
AT some point during the week, Mr. Christie will get a
summary of the secret evidence. On Friday, May 9, in Osgoode Hall in
Toronto at 9:30, there will be a public hearing to determine whether
dissident Ernst Zundel can be released on bail. Apparently, only after
these hearings will the hearing into the reasonableness of the certificate
begin.
