Free Ahmed Zaoui
This week I have been involved in the campaign to free Ahmed Zaoui, an Algerian refugee who has been inprisioned in New Zealand for over a year now without trial. He remains imprisioned on the basis of a security risk certificate, issued by the NZ Secuirty Intelligence Service, which accuses Mr Zaoui of being a member of a terrorist organisation. The reaons behind the issue of the certificate have just been released to the media and are a complete sham.
For example the SIS claim that a video Mr Zaoui made in South East Asia on his way to NZ 'looks like a casing video', on the grounds that it happens to include footage a oil company building, tourist buses and an internet cafe, sites they claim are not obvious tourist sites but which are 'frequented by westerners'. Of course, as a tourist Mr Zaoui used tourist buses (and probably internet cafes). They appear to imply that only westerners can be tourists. The SIS also point to footage of a mosque in Hanoi, 'likely to be frequented by Algerian diplomats', apparently not considering the more obvious explanation that as a Muslim, Mr Zaoui went there to pray (there are only two Mosques in Hanoi). The tape also includes ample evidence of Mr Zaoui being a very amatuer cameraman, such as the footage of the inside of a camera bag.
All allegations against Mr Zaoui are refuted pretty effectively by his lawyers, here.
On Monday we held a rally in Catherdral Square, with around 80 people attending (pretty good for Chch) and then marched to the Security Intelligence Service building, where we began a vigil that will run every day until Friday, with someone in a cage in solidarity with Zaoui. I unexpectantly got handed a megaphone as no one was doing any chants, so I led a few rounds of '1,2; 1,2,3; Ahmed Zaoui must be free' - which turned out to be reasonably successful for a chant I completely made up on the spot.
It got good media coverage in the Press and a little snippet of the cage on 3 news that night. I visited the Glouster St vigil again last night as my friend L was 'doing time' in the cage. There were short spells of rain on Tuesday so I hope she had the umbrella up inside the cage!
For example the SIS claim that a video Mr Zaoui made in South East Asia on his way to NZ 'looks like a casing video', on the grounds that it happens to include footage a oil company building, tourist buses and an internet cafe, sites they claim are not obvious tourist sites but which are 'frequented by westerners'. Of course, as a tourist Mr Zaoui used tourist buses (and probably internet cafes). They appear to imply that only westerners can be tourists. The SIS also point to footage of a mosque in Hanoi, 'likely to be frequented by Algerian diplomats', apparently not considering the more obvious explanation that as a Muslim, Mr Zaoui went there to pray (there are only two Mosques in Hanoi). The tape also includes ample evidence of Mr Zaoui being a very amatuer cameraman, such as the footage of the inside of a camera bag.
All allegations against Mr Zaoui are refuted pretty effectively by his lawyers, here.
On Monday we held a rally in Catherdral Square, with around 80 people attending (pretty good for Chch) and then marched to the Security Intelligence Service building, where we began a vigil that will run every day until Friday, with someone in a cage in solidarity with Zaoui. I unexpectantly got handed a megaphone as no one was doing any chants, so I led a few rounds of '1,2; 1,2,3; Ahmed Zaoui must be free' - which turned out to be reasonably successful for a chant I completely made up on the spot.
It got good media coverage in the Press and a little snippet of the cage on 3 news that night. I visited the Glouster St vigil again last night as my friend L was 'doing time' in the cage. There were short spells of rain on Tuesday so I hope she had the umbrella up inside the cage!