Protest Rejects Jail Without Charges

Amidst the women in headscarves hoisting placards and young children carrying paper cutouts of jail bars, one high-profile supporter stood off to the side. Filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau, son of the late former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, has been following Almrei's case since first hearing of such detentions last year. "I was dumbfounded to know that, in Canada, we were holding people without charging them. Holding them for our security — because that's what the government tells us — in these conditions is not necessary. We have to really understand that and decide if this is something we want in this country, and I for one do not," Trudeau told the crowd. Almrei has been held at the jail since October 2001 on a national security certificate, which allows the government to detain and deport non-citizens without laying a criminal charge, based on secret evidence provided by CSIS. The certificate must be upheld by a federal court, but the evidence remains secret throughout the proceedings. The process has provoked criticism from human rights advocates. Trudeau, who is making a documentary film about the topic which he hopes to complete by January, first learned about the detentions when he was contacted last year by supporters of Adil Charkaoui, who was jailed under a security certificate before being released on $50,000 bail last February. "Whether you're for or against it, we have a duty to know (the certificates) exist in Canada," Trudeau said in an interview. Almrei's lawyers went to court to successfully protest that their client was being denied certain rights, such as access to warm clothing and shoes in the winter. "When I met Hassan, he held up a pair of two-dollar Chinese shoes and said it took three years and $130,000 of taxpayers' money for him to get those shoes." Trudeau said yesterday. "He asked, `Does Canada know what they are doing?' We need to decide whether we like this way of defending ourselves; is this security?" Almrei had been on a hunger strike for 73 days, seeking one hour of fresh air a day. But yesterday — in a statement read by Matthew Behrens of the Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada — Almrei said the protest had inspired him to end the hunger strike. However, another detainee at the jail, Mohammad Mahjoub, is in the 60th day of a hunger strike. Mahjoub is seeking contact visits with his three children, who have not been allowed to embrace their father in his five years at the jail. "Once he hears what is happening here today, it will help his self-esteem and help him with his situation," his wife, Mona Elfouli, told protestors. "This security certificate is not helping Canada, it's destroying Canada," she said. Two other men, Mahmoud Jaballah and Mohammed Harkat, are also being held under security certificates. Jaballah's wife and four of his six children attended yesterday's rally. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1125784210026&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home

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