Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui was back in the High Court at Auckland yesterday attempting to win release after being held in custody without charge since December 2002.
Zaoui, granted refugee status by the Refugee Status Appeals Authority in August last year, is being detained at the Auckland Central Remand Prison at
Mt Eden under a warrant of commitment issued by the Manukau District Court in March last year.
Yesterday his lawyers, Dr Rodney Harrison, QC, and Deborah Manning sought his release on bail to the Mangere Refugee Detention Centre or under the care of the Auckland Dominican community.
Ms Manning said that among reasons for his release were the duration and potential future duration of Zaoui's detention and the inability of the remand prison or any other penal institution to deal with his poor mental and physical health.
She said Zaoui's psychological and physical states were deteriorating. He had needs as a recognised refugee and as a victim of trauma and torture.
The Mangere centre was a suitable place for Zaoui to live because it was a designated facility where people considered but not confirmed to be threats to national security could be detained.
There was a lack of any justification for Zaoui's continued incarceration, she said, and there were inadequate reasons for considering him to be a danger to New Zealand's security.
Inside and outside the court security was tight. Zaoui, dressed in a suit, occasionally stretched and cracked his knuckles.
Under questioning from Dr Harrison, psychologist Dr Ronnie Zuessman said there was a very low risk that Zaoui would break any law or engage in antisocial behaviour.
Dr Zuessman said it would be to Zaoui's advantage if he was allowed to live with the Dominicans.
Dr Zuessman said he had visited the friary but had not been permitted to visit the Mangere centre.
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