Accused al-Qaeda sleeper agent's deportation case needs to be re-evaluated, court says

The union soldier margaret court come to intermit on the government's decades-long endeavour to deport accused al-Qaeda sleeper agent Mohamed Harkat, ordering the case to be reviewed by reviewed by fresh eyes on Thursday.

Harkat was first taken into custody in Ottawa in December 2002 on suspicion of being a member of the al-Qaeda network after coming to Canada.

He is recognized as a refugee under the UN Refugee Convention, due to a credible fear of persecution if returned to his home country.

The Ottawa man has denied any involvement in terrorism and argues he will be tortured or killed if he returns to Algeria.

The federal government has been trying to deport the former gas station attendant using a security certificate — a controversial legal tool for removing non-citizens suspected of ties to extremism.

A Federal Court judge who reviewed the certificate ruled in 2010 there were grounds to believe Harkat is a security threat who maintained ties to Osama bin Laden's terror network after coming to Canada and operated a guest house for the militant Ibn Khattab in Pakistan.

The ruling was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2014, paving the road for his deportation.

In 2018, a senior decision-maker with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a delegate for the minister at the time, said Harkat should not be allowed to remain in Canada "based on the nature and severity of acts committed." 

The opinion said Harkat was complicit in the crimes of those he's accused of helping.

The Algerian refugee asked for judicial review, arguing it was unreasonable and unfair. The case was heard in 2024. 

Ina decision released on Thursday, Justice John Norris largely sided with Harkat, setting the 2018 decision aside and sending the matter for redetermination. 

While Norris said he was not persuaded that the process breached the requirements of procedural fairness, he did conclude "that the [decision-maker]'s determination that the applicant should not be allowed to remain in Canada on the basis of the nature and severity of acts committed is unreasonable."

The justice ruled that "a key finding by the delegate — that the applicant was complicit in acts of terrorism committed by Chechen extremists — is not reasonably supported by the delegate's analysis of the record" and that "the inference of complicity also rests on speculation, unfounded assumptions and extrapolations."

Civil rights advocates have criticized the security certificate process as unjust because they're difficult to challenge.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau's brother, Alexandre Trudeau, has advocated for Harkat to stay in Canada, arguing his deportation could lead to torture.

Reporter

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