Letters to the editor...Government's actions leave reader disgusted

Dear editor, Mohammad Mahjoub has been detained in Canada for seven years on a Security Certificate. He is scheduled to be released next week after the Crown could not create a case against him. I'm thoroughly disgusted by the actions of our government and embarrassed to be a Canadian today. According to our Constitution, Canada was founded "upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law". When we throw away the rule of law, what's next? This man deserves to have his case heard in the Supreme Court. This is a disgusting example of the loss or freedoms in the post 9-11 culture of fear. There is no excuse for denying a man a constitutionallyprotected right. Whether or not he is a Canadian citizen he is protected by (and subject to) Canadian law. According to Section 11 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms "Any person charged with an offence has the right to be informed without unreasonable delay of the specific offence; to be tried within a reasonable time; not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause". This man has had his rights stripped away, and because of that he's lost seven years of his life only to be told the case has been dropped. Hopefully cases like this will inspire more Canadians to become politically active. Pat Kitchen, Georgetown