ZGram - May 5, 2003 - "Update on EZ: Friday's aborted hearing" -
Part II
zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
zgrams at zgrams.zundelsite.org
Mon May 5 18:05:33 EDT 2003
ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny: Now more than ever!
May 5, 2003
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
This is Part II of the Zundel Deportation follow-up:
Herewith, Paul Fromm's write-up of Friday's events at the aborted
bail hearing for Ernst Zundel:
[START]
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.
[END]
More information about the Zgrams
mailing list