"This has everything to do with the fact that Adil is seeking accountability through a lawsuit and nothing whatsoever to do with public safety. It is completely contrary to our interests as a community to create this kind of fear, spread falsehoods, whip up Islamophobic hysteria, and inhibit use of a healthy mechanism of accountability - in fact, a lawsuit was the sole recourse available to Adil after the government refused to apologize or offer reparations for wrongfully imprisoning him, keeping him under house arrest for six years and repeatedly attacking his reputation." said Mary Foster, from the Justice for Adil Charkaoui Coalition.     
 

"Don't forget that in 2009 the Federal Court threw out the security certificate against Adil for lack of evidence: the security certificate regime, which is part of immigration law, shares that system's abysmally low standards, so lack of evidence in that context means that they had nothing whatsoever against him. Adil was never criminally charged with any of this stuff. We all know that standards of proof in criminal cases, and particularly terrorism cases, are exceedingly low. So how can anyone - even the most determined Islamophobe - take these 11-year old, extremely vague and unconvincing allegations in anyway seriously. It is of huge concern that Radio Canada and La Presse were willing to run with this story." added Foster. 

 

"This is the third or fourth time that Canadian media has gone on a runaway stampede sparked by leaks of dubious secret documents and unsubstantiated allegations against Mr. Charkaoui. This is not a question of freedom of expression, it is a question of intelligent and responsible journalism: the media cannot allow itself to be manipulated by political authorities." said Foster. 

Mr. Charkaoui is considering further legal action to put an end to such recurring attacks on his well-being and that of his family.   

 

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Contact: 514 222 0205

 

Source:

Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui