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The lawyer for accused terrorist Mohamed Harkat says the federal government’s “hyperbolized” accusations against him do not justify his deportation to Algeria, the country he fled more than 30 years ago.

Barbara Jackman argues that the government is relying on guilt by association to characterize Harkat as a threat to Canada’s security.

“This (guilt by association) should also be found unacceptable in the case of Mr. Harkat, who, even accepting the maximum extent of the minister’s allegations, had multiple degrees of separation between himself and the terrorist acts,” says Jackman in a filed brief. recently before the Federal Court.

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There is no evidence, she said, that Harkat himself engaged in violence or knowingly contributed to the terrorist acts of others.

“The activities he allegedly undertook were in themselves benign – running a guest house, working for a humanitarian agency, trying to help other people with legal problems,” Jackman argued.

The federal government has been trying to deport Harkat, a Convention refugee, for 22 years through its controversial security certificate process.

A Federal Court hearing early next month will examine the “minister’s opinion,” written by an anonymous senior official at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, which concluded that Harkat poses a serious threat to Canada as a member of the Al-Qaeda network and should be expelled despite his refugee status.

The judicial review will decide whether this opinion, issued in October 2018, is legally fair and reasonable.

Harkat, now 56, arrived in Canada in October 1995 and has lived in Ottawa or in prison ever since.

He says he will be tortured or killed if returned to Algeria, a country he fled in 1990 as a university student and opposed to the then army-backed government. After leaving Algeria, he spent five years in Pakistan.

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The minister’s notice states that while Harkat did not commit terrorist acts directly, he was “complicit” in the crimes of those he helped in Peshawar, Pakistan, where he operated a guest house, and in Ottawa, where he offered aid to two Islamic extremists. who traveled to Canada.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said Harkat operated the Peshawar guest house for Chechen rebel leader Ibn Khattab and helped move mujahideen fighters in and out of training camps in Afghanistan.

Khattab is a key figure in the Harkat affair.

Revered by his supporters as the “Lion of Chechnya,” Saudi-born Khattab was killed in 2002 with a poisoned letter – likely the work of Russian security agents.

Both the judge who upheld the security certificate against Harkat and the immigration official who said he should be deported declared Khattab a terrorist who shares his ideology, training and money with Al-Qaida.

This discovery brought Harkat closer to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network.

But there is no consensus among historians – or among judges – that Khattab was in fact a terrorist. In 2010, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley dismissed the security certificate against Hassan Almrei of Toronto, finding that Khattab “could not reasonably be considered to be part of Al-Qaeda.” Almrei admitted to traveling to camps in Afghanistan twice with Khattab in 1994 and 1995.

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Jackman says Khattab’s alleged ties to al-Qaeda may not survive an assessment based on the highest standards of proof that should have been used by the senior official who ordered Harkat’s expulsion.

Jackman argues that officials should have evaluated the case against Harkat on the balance of probabilities, rather than the lower standard of reasonableness. She said the highest standard should apply when deciding whether or not to deport a refugee to a country where they risk torture.

“It is wrong to put off refugees with the possibility that they have engaged in heinous acts that justify this,” she wrote.

In ordering Harkat’s deportation, the immigration official rejected the idea that he risks being tortured in Algeria. Harkat, the official said, is of little value to Algerians as a source of information on potential threats, given that its links to terrorism are very outdated.

Harkat was first arrested in Ottawa on a security certificate in December 2002, the day after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

At next month’s hearing, Jackman will ask Federal Court Justice John Norris to overturn the minister’s advice and allow Harkat to stay in Canada permanently.

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Jackman claims Harkat was treated unfairly because of the government’s reliance on secret evidence, use of an anonymous immigration agent and extraordinary delays in the system. The immigration official also ignored or misinterpreted the evidence, Jackman said, and made an unreasonable decision using the wrong standard of proof.

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