Release conditions upheld for Egyptian man branded a security threat

TORONTO — An Egyptian man long branded as a threat to Canada’s national security has lost his bid to lift restrictions on his freedom.

While some minor changes are appropriate, Federal Court Judge Simon Noel ruled that Mohamed Mahjoub still needs careful monitoring.

“Nothing will ever be to the satisfaction of Mr. Mahjoub,” Noel said in his decision. “I understand the position Mr. Mahjoub is in and the frustration he must be going through (but) at a certain point, a reality check must be performed in order for him to adapt to his future.”

Canadian authorities have argued since his initial arrest in 2000 that Mahjoub, 56, of Toronto, poses a terror-related threat. He has fought numerous legal battles in an effort to overturn his national security certificate, which allows Ottawa to jail him or otherwise limit his freedom — without laying criminal charges against him.

Mahjoub, who spent years in prison, was released in 2009 under stringent conditions. While those restrictions have been eased in recent years, he had wanted Noel to scrap almost all of them.

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In rejecting the request, Noel leaned heavily on a 2013 Federal Court decision that found Mahjoub’s national security certificate to be reasonable.

In that decision, another judge found credible evidence that Mahjoub was once a top executive at an enterprise in Sudan run by the late terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. The judge also found Mahjoub had been a ranking member of the Egyptian terror organization known as Vanguards of Conquest, and that he had lied about his contacts with known terrorists while in Canada.

Mahjoub, who first came to Canada in December 1995 and was granted refugee status in October 1996, has consistently denied any such links but courts have repeatedly upheld his security certificate since it was first issued in 2000 — despite finding that authorities at times had breached his rights.

Although some conditions of his release in 2009 have been eased — such as the requirement that he wear a tracking bracelet — numerous others remain in place. Among them is a requirement he report to border service agents weekly, that he remain subject to physical surveillance, and that he can only use a supervised email account.

Mahjoub, who has staved off deportation because of a risk he would be tortured if sent back to Egypt, argued there was no evidence to justify restrictions he said were taking a toll on his mental and physical health.

“To a certain limit, it is understandable that Mr. Mahjoub experiences feelings of rejection, refusal and despair,” Noel wrote.

At the same time, the judge said, Mahjoub had not been co-operative with authorities and had even breached some of the conditions — although the violations were not serious.

In his defence, Mahjoub argued he only wanted to ensure Canada Border Services Agency did not reach beyond what the court had ordered, and that agents respected his privacy.

Those concerns had some validity, Noel said, but proper supervision was essential to ensuring the conditions were meaningful.

“The danger to the security of Canada associated to Mr. Mahjoub now is certainly not comparable to the danger assessed in the past,” Noel wrote in upholding 23 conditions.

“(But) the danger to the security of Canada associated to Mr. Mahjoub has not evaporated; it remains latent, perceptible and factual.”

Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press