National Security Certificate
Hassan Almrei
Misbah Karim published May 05, 2008
Hassan Almrei may have spent the last seven years of his life in isolation behind the bars but the spy service of Canada still believes that if he is released then his reputation in terrorism circles and ability to easily get false documents poses a danger to Canada.
A senior officer with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service testified yesterday that 34-year-old Almrei shares the ideology of Al Qaeda or similar groups, and these people always get fake documents for their operations.
The intelligence officer identified as Sukhvindar told the Federal Court that he believes that Mr. Almrei has the background, the training, the expertise, the willingness and the commitment to follow the ideologies of Al Qaeda and similar groups.
The government doesn’t allege that Almrei is an Al Qaeda member, but that since he has the family background associated with someone who fought in Afghanistan after Soviet occupation, he would be seen as an ‘icon’ among fundamentalist.
People who are supporting Almrei have criticized the immigration law under which he is held and argued that even if he had been charged criminally for providing false documents then he would have already served his sentence.
Such controversial “national security certificates” have already faced numerous court challenges. Almrei’s lawyer, Lorne Waldman, argued yesterday that without any end in sight to the current litigation, keeping Almrei in prison amounts to detention for indefinite period.
Almrei is one of the five non-citizens whom the government is desperately trying to deport. Of the five, Almrei is the only one who is not released. His detention review this week is the fourth time he has applied for release. His past efforts failed largely because, unlike the other four main, Almrei is not married and he does not have his family in Canada who can supervise him. 
The question looming over these cases is that whether or not can Canada deport non-citizens who are likely to be tortured or killed, once they are back home. In 2001, Almrei was accepted as refugee in Canada based on the fact that his father was involved with the Islamic Group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and this was likely to put his life to risk if he returned to Syria. But after 9/11, the government imprisoned him after signing a national security certificate.
The hearing of Almrei’s case continues in Ottawa next Wednesday and it is yet to be seen as to which way the case finally heads.
http://www.canadaupdates.com/blogs/hassan_Almrei_is_a_threat_to_canada_if_released-9096.html
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