On Thursday, a Federal Court judge in Halifax upheld Ottawa's latest decision not to grant Jaballah asylum as a person in need of protection from torture or other grave harm.
Jaballah, who has spent years in Canadian jails while battling to stay in the country, has said he would be tortured if sent back to Egypt. That claim was initially endorsed by a Canadian official called a pre-removal risk-assessment officer but later rejected by the government.
Mahmoud Jaballah is accused of links to an Egyptian militant group called Al Jihad. (file photo)
- FROM AUG. 28, 2001: Toronto teacher linked to Egyptian militant group
Jaballah's fight is not over. In a separate application, he is trying to persuade the court that a security certificate labelling him a danger to Canada is unreasonable.
He was first arrested in 1999 on allegations that he was linked to an Egyptian group called Al Jihad, which the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service identified as a "terrorist organization." The accusations were thrown out months later.
In 2001, he was arrested again. CSIS said there was new evidence linking him to the group, which seeks to replace the Egyptian government with an Islamic regime and is blamed for the assassination of president Anwar Sadat in 1981.
- FROM MARCH 12, 2002: Lawyer for suspected terrorist walks out of court
In Thursday's ruling, Justice Andrew Mackay noted that proceedings relating to the security certificate would continue.
He stressed that a decision to refuse Jaballah's request for asylum "is not one to deport Mr. Jaballah to Egypt."
If Jaballah eventually is deported, he may be sent to a safe third country, the judge said, adding that he agrees with Jaballah's lawyers that the government "has some responsibilities to consider a possible alternative to Egypt."
Jaballah had been teaching at a Muslim school in Toronto when he was arrested. His wife and four of their children have been granted refugee status in Canada.
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