They Came For The Chicken Farmer

Let's start by freeing imprisoned NZ political asylum refugee [url=http://www.amnesty.org.nz/web/pages/home.nsf/dd5cab6801f1723585256474005327c8/eb48cbf47092193acc256e68001afbe5!OpenDocument]Ahmed Zaoui[/url].

Quote:

Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui, father of four, Islamic scholar, has been held in detention since he claimed political asylum on his arrival at Auckland Airport in December 2002 ... Although Mr Zaoui's application was initially declined amid rumours of possible links with "terrorism", New Zealand's independent Refugee Status Appeals Authority (RSAA) granted him refugee status on 1 August 2003. In a comprehensive report the RSAA concluded that he would be persecuted and at great risk of torture for reasons of his political opinion if returned to Algeria, and that there was no credible evidence that he has been involved in "terrorism" or serious crime, as had been alleged. Nevertheless Ahmed Zaoui remains in prison - and may be removed from New Zealand to a situation where he risks possible torture or death - on "national security" grounds, based on classified intelligence information to which neither he nor his counsel have access, and which cannot be challenged in a judicial process. He was held in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison for over ten months, and is now detained in Auckland Central Remand Prison, despite two reports documenting the effects of post-traumatic stress and recommending his removal from a prison environment. The RSAA questioned the basis on which Mr Zaoui had initially been refused refugee status, including information put before them by New Zealand's Security Intelligence Service, and described Mr Zaoui as being the victim of false allegations stemming from his opposition to the Algerian government, where he has been tried in absentia and sentenced to death.