KEY POINTS:
The double doors leading to the Employment Court on the 11th floor of an Auckland building are barred by a security guard.
Inside those doors yesterday, the players in the Ahmed Zaoui case came together at last. The guard lets through only those involved in the case. Even
the waiting room is out of bounds to the media and the public.
Outside, at ground level, protesters are almost outnumbered by the media. Cameras follow anyone who walks up the escalator.
It's guesswork as to who might be a member of the secretive SIS - but probably not the man with the eye-catching red tie.
This man is Stuart Grieve, QC, one of the few people who knows what the SIS alleges about Mr Zaoui.
Mr Grieve does not stop to chat. He is not allowed to tell what he knows even to Mr Zaoui, or his lawyers, let alone the waiting media.
During the lunch break on this first day of hearings into the validity of Mr Zaoui's security risk certificate, Mr Grieve explains his role.
He and another lawyer, Chris Morris, were appointed as special advocates by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Justice Paul Neazor, who will decide if the certificate is to be upheld.
Mr Grieve says he and Mr Morris have been cleared to inspect the classified material the security services relied on in making the certificate. They will make submissions to the Inspector-General on two points.
The first is if the Zaoui team should be given further disclosure or summaries of the classified material. The advocates will then make submissions on Mr Zaoui's behalf, limited to the classified material.
Asked what he can tell Zaoui's lawyers about the classified information, he says "nothing".
"There will be what are known as closed hearings to deal with those facets of the case, from which they will be excluded."
Asked if he could comment about the fairness of the process, Mr Grieve gives a firm shake of the head and says "no".
The protesters say the process is far from fair. Margaret Taylor from Amnesty International says she has no call to make regarding Mr Zaoui's innocence or guilt but that is not why the protesters are present.
They stand in a line with placards which read: "Secret evidence," "secret sources" and "secret hearing."
Another three people stand silently, one with his mouth gagged, one blindfolded and one with ear muffs. Next to them sits a girl in a cage dressed in bright orange overalls, Guantanamo Bay style.
"We're concerned about the secret evidence which is why the mouth is gagged," says Margaret Taylor.
"We're concerned about the secret sources which is why the eyes are gagged and we're concerned that this is a secret hearing which is why we've got people with their ears muffed.
"Bottom line, it's not a fair hearing and this man deserves it and New Zealand and New Zealand taxpayers deserve a fair hearing because a fair hearing will guarantee an outcome that we can all live with. This is one of the key issues here."
The Guantanamo Bay prisoner is here to show that the so-called war on terror has been used as an excuse to "denigrate and deny human rights".
When Mr Zaoui arrives he smiles but says no comment and slips up the escalator, leaving lawyer Deborah Manning to handle the media.
She says this is her client's first chance to present his side of the story to the Inspector-General. It is difficult to prepare for any hearing when information is secret "so I don't think anyone's under any illusion that this is a normal fair hearing because it is based on secrecy".
