By HELEN TUNNAH
National Party leader Don Brash has become the most senior politician to speak out against the almost two-year jailing of Ahmed Zaoui without any charge being laid.
Dr Brash's remarks will provide a fillip for Mr Zaoui and his lawyers as the Supreme Court prepares to consider whether he
should be released on bail while it is decided whether he is a security risk.
They also reflect the uneasiness felt by a growing number of politicians that New Zealand has detained a man without charge for so long.
Mr Zaoui, a former Algerian politician, has been detained since he arrived here in December 2002 and claimed asylum.
He was held as a suspected terrorist, and five months later a security risk certificate was issued against him on the advice of the Security Intelligence Service.
The validity of that certificate is to be reviewed, but that has been delayed by ongoing legal battles between Mr Zaoui's lawyers and the Government.
As Leader of the Opposition, Dr Brash has received a briefing from the SIS about Mr Zaoui which is confidential.
Dr Brash was asked about Mr Zaoui on an Auckland radio station yesterday, and later told the Herald he was concerned about the situation for both justice and human rights reasons.
"Everybody, whether they think Mr Zaoui has been wrongly accused or whether they think he's been correctly accused, feels pretty unhappy about the fact he's been in jail almost two years, nearly half of that in solitary confinement."
He said it was "pretty unsatisfactory" that a person could be detained so long without being charged with any offence, and there should be a swifter method for dealing with the situation.
"He's either innocent or he's guilty. He's either a serious security risk or he's not. And if he is a serious security risk surely it would be possible to evict him from the country promptly.
"If he's not, then we shouldn't have him in solitary confinement or indeed in jail."
Dr Brash would not comment on the specifics of Mr Zaoui's case, and did not want to comment on the bail hearing next month. However he said it was clear the law relating to the issuing of security risk certificates needed to be overhauled.
The Government has said it will do that, but senior Cabinet ministers have been very guarded in their public comments on the case.
Attorney-General Margaret Wilson has commented that Mr Zaoui's detention is not an imprisonment, and he is free to leave New Zealand whenever he likes.
Even after the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reviews the risk certificate, the decision on whether Mr Zaoui will be deported rests with the Immigration Minister.
Labour is coming under increasing pressure from its core supporters over the delays. Council of Trade Unions president Ross Wilson last week told a Beehive audience that some of Mr Zaoui's treatment in prison made him "ashamed" to be a New Zealander.
Herald Feature: Ahmed Zaoui, parliamentarian in prison
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By HELEN TUNNAH
National Party leader Don Brash has become the most senior politician to speak out against the almost two-year jailing of Ahmed Zaoui without any charge being laid.
Dr Brash's remarks will provide a fillip for Mr Zaoui and his lawyers as the Supreme Court prepares to consider whether he
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