Supporters' second anniversary rally moves Zaoui to tears

Abdur Lone, 7, protests at the prison. Picture / Amos Chapple

Detained Algerian Ahmed Zaoui cried when shown pictures of supporters who rallied outside his prison's walls on the second anniversary of his imprisonment without trial.

"It was actually quite emotional for him," lawyer Deborah Manning said. "One thing he did say was effectively that the days are going very slow now, time is moving very slow for him."

Mr Zaoui may not have been able to hear it through the Auckland Central Remand Prison walls, but at least 200 people gathered outside to sing him Happy Birthday.

As the rain fell 24 coloured balloons representing Mr Zaoui's 24 months in prison were released.

Mr Zaoui will find out on Thursday, just two days after his 44th birthday, whether the Supreme Court will release him on bail.

Ms Manning says documents filed by the Crown present no new evidence to hold Mr Zaoui.

She said Mr Zaoui shed tears when shown photos of Saturday's rally. Her client, who will not be at this week's hearing, was cautiously hopeful.

Lawyers will head to court today to file submissions in preparation for Thursday's hearing.

At the rally, chants of "two years too long" and "free Ahmed Zaoui now" rang out in between speeches at Saturday's gathering, organised by Global Peace and Justice Auckland.

Ms Manning told the crowd she hoped "Mr Zaoui may finally feel the rain on his face, the sun and the wind". She read from one of the "24 contemplations" Mr Zaoui had written - to represent the 24 months he had been in jail.

"I discovered during my isolation that people need to be carried away by fictions. They need to be romantic and to dream. Yet they also need to be fully immersed in life, experiencing it in all the fullness of its drama, its colour and suffering."

"Thank-you, O native Kiwis, you have filled my loneliness. I have learned a lot from you. But in case I forget to mention - I need clean air now, because my lungs are fed up with the stale, air-conditioned air of this prison."

The full 24 contemplations will be read at a public meeting on Tuesday night in Ponsonby's St Columba Centre, where people will gather to celebrate his birthday.

Twenty-four native plants were presented to be planted at centres around the country that had supported Mr Zaoui.

Speakers at the rally included former Race Relations Commissioner Gregory Fortuin, who said he would never have dreamed a person would be "locked away" in New Zealand without evidence against them being tested in court.

"I stand not just for Ahmed Zaoui but for justice, for our grandchildren and for a free New Zealand."