SIS overseer staying on Zaoui case

By AUDREY YOUNG, Political Editor


Prime Minister Helen Clark says there are no grounds to remove the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Justice Laurie Greig, from his role.

She was commenting on reports yesterday that the Government was poised to remove him following his interview with the Listener about aspects of the Ahmed Zaoui case.

"There is no substance in that," she said last night. "Nothing that Mr Greig has done would enable the Government to remove him."

Justice Greig, a former High Court judge, is part-way through reviewing a decision by the Security Intelligence Service to issue a security risk certificate against Mr Zaoui, which is grounds enough to remove him despite his being declared a refugee by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority.

Helen Clark said Justice Greig's position was analogous to that of a High Court judge, who can be removed only by the Governor-General on the vote of Parliament, and on narrow grounds - disability affecting performance of duty, bankruptcy, neglect of duty or misconduct.

"Now whatever people think of what he said - and I'm on the public record as saying that he would have been better not to have said it or given the interview - it would be a long stretch of the imagination to say that it met the requirements of the law for removal."

She would not be supporting a move by Green MP Keith Locke in Parliament this week to have Justice Greig removed.

Zaoui supporters believe Justice Greig showed bias when he said in the interview: "We certainly don't want lots of people coming in on false passports ... "

Helen Clark defended the process of review as robust, citing the fact that SIS director Richard Woods has been ordered by a High Court judge to appear today in the High Court at Auckland to be questioned by Mr Zaoui's lawyers.

Among their objections is the fact that Mr Zaoui has been refused a summary of the classified material on which Mr Woods based his decision to issue the security risk certificate.

But the Prime Minister last night wondered why his lawyers had not filed any challenge on the grounds of bias.

"This has been kicking around in the public arena for a week. The longer they leave it, I think the less seriously a court would take a challenge.

"It would have been better if the interview hadn't been done. But it has been and if there is a serious allegation of bias or determination then that should be dealt with by the defence in court.

"The fact they haven't after a week is interesting."

Mr Zaoui's lawyer, Deborah Manning, would not comment last night but said: "These may be matters that are going to be raised in the morning."

Mr Zaoui's lawyers wanted to put 12 questions to Mr Woods on the affidavit he provided to the court but Justice Hugh Williams has ruled only three of them were in order.

One year behind bars

* Algerian Ahmed Zaoui remains in Auckland Central remand prison almost a year after he was detained at Auckland Airport on suspicion of having links with a terrorist group.

* He has been granted refugee status by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority, but is still subject to deportation under a national security risk certificate.