Thursday, April 05, 2007



Victory for Thomas Yadegary!

Thomas Yadegary, the Iranian immigrant facing indefinite detention without trial for refusing to cooperate in his own deportation to persecution and torture, has been granted a writ of Habeas Corpus and freed from prison. The judgement isn't available yet - the government is trying to have it suppressed - but it seems that the High Court followed the pointer from the Court of Appeal in Zaoui v Attorney-General [Habeas Corpus] and ruled that while initially lawful, the purpose of detention could not be fulfilled and it was therefore arbitrary. It's a victory for human rights - but at the same time rather shameful that we had to keep a man in prison for two and a half years before admitting that it was futile and freeing him.

I have no idea what this means for Yadegary's immigration status - that's a seperate battle. But he is no longer being detained without trial, and that is worth celebrating.

2 comments:

Hello,
Check out http://ministryoflove.wordpress.com to learn more about our ongoing Orwellian protest of the Military Commissions Act, under which hundreds of people are indefinitely detained.
Regards,
O'Brien

Posted by Comrade O'Brien : 4/08/2007 12:50:00 PM

From Aotearoa Indymedia (http://indymedia.org.nz/feature/display/71647/index.php):

"Yadegary could still face deportation, but for now has been freed on restrictive bail conditions which include a 7pm to 7am curfew and reporting to Police 3 times a week."

Posted by Asher : 4/08/2007 05:10:00 PM