Enemy of the State: The Ahmed Zaoui File

Two years ago, this podcast concluded with a happy ending, and a hopeful outlook, for Ahmed Zaoui and his family. But earlier this month, that all changed after Ahmed was arrested in his home country of Algeria, and now faces serious charges that include the death penalty as a possible punishment.

John Keir returns for this new episode of Enemy of the State, joined once again by lawyer Deborah Manning to discuss what this all means for Ahmed. 

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Zaoui is finally free to enjoy life in New Zealand and be reunited with his wife and children. Then he gets a mysterious offer to return to Algeria. Narrator John Keir reflects on what Zaoui’s story tells us about ourselves as a country and about the two remarkable women who faced off against each other, Deborah Manning and Helen Clark.

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Deborah Manning produces her star witness but runs into an unexpected obstacle. Eventually as the SIS case crumbles, Zaoui wins not just his freedom but a private moment of vindication.

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Finally, the hearing to review Ahmed Zaoui’s security risk certificate is scheduled for July 2007. Deborah Manning’s secret witness flies into New Zealand and Ahmed Zaoui comes face to face with the man who destroyed his life.

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Deborah Manning decides that if the SIS won’t reveal their evidence, then she will find it independently by travelling to Europe to penetrate the secret world of the European security agencies. There she comes across a shadowy figure who will change everything.

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Zaoui gets bail and is given sanctuary with a houseful of Catholic priests in central Auckland – but his lawyer worries he will be framed again. Meanwhile, Stuart Grieve QC enters the picture as a ‘special advocate’ with security clearance to see the top-secret SIS material.

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Zaoui becomes a hero when he is transferred from solitary confinement to Mt Eden Prison, where some inmates believe he is a friend of Osama bin Laden. Meanwhile, the stress of the case has an impact on his lawyer Deborah Manning’s personal life.

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Even when Zaoui wins refugee status, the SIS still argues he is a threat to our national security – and won’t say why. Things get more complicated when a retired judge set to hear Zaoui’s case gives a magazine interview…

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The Ahmed Zaoui case is a test for Helen Clark’s Labour Government, as she has already refused to allow New Zealand to be part of the American ‘coalition of the willing’ invasion of Iraq. Now her government is under pressure to show the country’s commitment to the fight.

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In a post-9/11 world, Ahmed Zaoui’s arrival immediately thrusts New Zealand into the US-led War on Terror, and he is locked up in solitary confinement. The problem for his defence team is that the SIS refuses to reveal its evidence that Zaoui is a danger to national security.

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