Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press, 13 March 2010 http://www.thestar.com/mobile/canada/article/779433

MONTREAL–A simple "sorry" and an offer to pay his legal fees might have sufficed, but Adil Charkaoui said he didn't even get that courtesy from the federal government.

So the Moroccan-born Montrealer who was accused by Ottawa of being a terrorist and who spent several years living under tight restrictions believes he was left with little choice but to sue the federal government.

Charkaoui said Friday he intends to sue for $24.5 million to restore his reputation after failing to get an apology from Ottawa.

He said the civil suit, filed in Quebec Superior Court on Feb. 22, is not about the money.

"I'm doing it to clear my name. This is very important for me," Charkaoui told The Canadian Press in a phone interview between teaching classes.

He said he sent a letter asking for an apology, his Canadian citizenship and compensation for lost income and legal fees after a federal judge quashed a security certificate against him.

The response he says he received was that the government was just doing its job. "To me, it meant `Go to hell,'" Charkaoui said.

"This is about accountability. I want to restore my name and they made a mistake and destroyed my life in Canada and outside Canada and they have to pay for what they did."

Ruling another blow to controversial certificate system

TU THANH HA, Globe and Mail, 15 December 2009

New disclosure obligations set out by the Supreme Court of Canada have played a key part in the collapse of a federal security certificate case against a second terrorism suspect.

In quashing the certificate against the Syrian-born Toronto resident Hassan Almrei, a Federal Court judge said yesterday that the material the Canadian Security Intelligence Service disclosed to the court under the new rules contradicted information from its informants.

In his ruling, Mr. Justice Richard Mosley also said CSIS filed outdated, unreliable information about how al-Qaeda operates.

The ruling is the latest blow to the controversial certificate system, which relies on evidence heard in secret to detain and deport foreign residents.

"This decision proves this process is a flawed process," said Mr. Almrei's lawyer, Lorne Waldman. The new rules have helped, he said, but "I still don't believe it is a fair process."

Mr. Almrei is a former mujahed who went to Afghanistan in the 1990s. His arrest in 2001 was justified, but he's no longer a security threat, Judge Mosley wrote.

Sidhartha Banerjee, THE CANADIAN PRESS, 14 October 2009

MONTREAL - Adil Charkaoui spent more than six years under suspicion of being a terrorist operative, spent 21 months in jail, had his movements tracked with an electronic bracelet, and missed the birth of his son.

Now he wants the federal government to pay.

After a Federal Court judge ruled his security certificate null and void Wednesday, the Montreal man said he'll be seeking reparations for the years he spent trying to clear his name.

In the meantime, the Moroccan native said he simply wanted to celebrate.

"Finally, after six and a half years, I can enjoy not only freedom, but justice," he told a news conference.

"We'll be organizing a huge party and everyone will be invited."

Charkaoui, a married father of three who has steadfastly denied any links to terrorists, said he's elated by Wednesday's judgment.

Federal Court Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer wrote that the certificate must be quashed and that Ottawa has no right to appeal.

Tremblay-Lamer said the notion of national security is a question of perspective and that grey zones can exist.

October, 14, 2009, THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL - A security certificate against a Montreal man ((formerly)) accused of having terrorist ties has officially been declared null and void.

Adil Charkaoui says he is elated about the judgment which he received today.

He says the certificate has been quashed and that the federal government does not have the right to appeal.

Charkaoui tells The Canadian Press he has been waiting for six years to officially be a free man again.

Federal Court Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer removed the remaining conditions against Charkaoui at the end of September and said the security certificate would fall.

Charkaoui says he is demanding an apology and compensation from the federal government.

Charkaoui and his supporters are planning a news conference in Montreal later this afternoon.

He says he'll have more to say when he's had a chance to read the 68-page decision.

Hints at compensation as well

Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 5:22 PM
 
OTTAWA — Adil Charkaoui, fresh from securing his freedom from federal surveillance, came to Parliament Hill on Tuesday shopping for an apology from the government for his "years of suffering" after being branded a terror suspect.

He also hinted that he could seek financial compensation.

The Montreal schoolteacher's appeal for Ottawa to drop its fight against him and to make amends came on the eve of a closed-door court hearing in which a judge is expected to quash a federal "security certificate," issued in 2003 on accusations that Charkaoui had ties to the al-Qaida terrorist network.

The rarely used certificates permit indefinite "administrative detention" of non-Canadians, without being charged or knowing the full case against them, while judges decide in closed-door hearings whether the suspects should be deported.

Target of terrorism investigation feels 'naked' without ankle monitor
 
By SUE MONTGOMERY, The Gazette, 26 September 2009
 
Adil Charkaoui's first night of freedom was peaceful, until his 6-year-old son woke up crying.

After four years of sleeping with the base of his father's global tracking system in his room, Abdallah suddenly felt lost without the glowing light that emanated from the black machine the size of a toaster.

Charkaoui, too, felt a bit "naked" on his first day after Federal Court Judge Danielle Tremblay-Lamer quashed the security certificate under which the schoolteacher has been living for six years - and its accompanying bail conditions, including an electronic ankle bracelet that tracked his every move.

After cutting off the bracelet with a large pair of scissors, Charkaoui was able to go to bed Thursday night barefoot, instead of wearing a sock to ease the uncomfortable feeling of the metal and plastic against his skin.

"I keep looking for my GPS all the time," he said yesterday in a telephone interview.

"It's like when you forget your cellphone and you reach in your pocket and it's not there.

Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star, Aug 26, 2009

In the topsy-turvy world of security, few stories are more bizarre than that of Adil Charkaoui. Six years ago, the federal government jailed him as an alleged Al Qaeda sleeper agent. Now, it turns out, the government admits it has no credible evidence of that or indeed anything else against him that it's willing to test in court.

But the government still wants the 36-year-old Montrealer – who has applied for but not yet been granted Canadian citizenship – deported to his native Morocco.

Charkaoui is one of five Muslim men, non-citizens all, caught up in the Catch-22 web of Canadian immigration law. This allows the government – under judicial oversight – to jail without charge and eventually deport any non-citizen it deems a security risk.

The judicial oversight clause is important. Even though the law is stacked against detainees (secret evidence is permitted), all five have managed to convince judges that they are not as dangerous as the government claims and need not be kept in jail.

Charkaoui, however, is the legal star of the five. He's won two Supreme Court challenges and, as he gradually demolished Ottawa's case against him, managed to make the government look like an idiot.

Laura-Julie Perreault, La Presse, 21 août 2009

Le certificat de sécurité qui pèse contre le Montréalais Adil Charkaoui pourrait être bientôt levé. Dans un document déposé à la Cour fédérale et dont La Presse a obtenu copie, le gouvernement canadien admet que la preuve au dossier de l'immigrant d'origine marocaine est aujourd'hui «insuffisante» pour justifier son renvoi du pays.

Garrett Zehr, June 26, 2009, Tyee

VANCOUVER - The federal government must abolish security certificates and apologize for its treatment of five men detained under the controversial process, say human and legal rights advocates on a cross-country tour to build public support.

"Secret trials are unacceptable for all Canadians who value the rule of law," said Fernand Dechamps of the Justice for Adil Charkaoui Coalition. "Our security lies in the defence of the rights of all."

Montreal resident Adil Charkaoui arrived in British Columbia this week to speak about his own experience under a security certificate and his attempts to clear his name.

"I want to talk directly to Canadians -- to show them that I was treated unfairly by our government," he said at a press conference yesterday with supporters from the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Council of Canadians and Amnesty International.

Charkaoui was arrested and detained in 2003 under the security certificate process, a special deportation proceeding used only against non-citizens. The accused are usually denied the right to see evidence against them and can face indefinite detention.