October 26, 2001
Yemeni unfairly jailed: Lawyer
Sam Pazzano
A lawyer says his Yemeni client and at least 20 other immigration prisoners were picked up unfairly in a “wide sweep” in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Nageed Abdul Jabar Mohamen al- Hadi, 35, was detained at Pearson airport when his Chicago- bound flight was diverted here after hijackers crashed jets into the Pentagon and the World Trade Centre.
Al- Hadi is just one of 20 prisoners on “immigration hold” at the Metro West Detention Centre for fear of possible links to the attacks, lawyer Deepak Paradkar said yesterday.
“There is a wide sweep I’m not sure that their rights have been violated or not,” said Paradkar.
Paradkar and co- counsel Gary Batasar complained al- Hadi’s bail hearing was delayed yesterday because his Detroti- area relatives were turned away at the border on “dubious grounds.”
The FBI alleges al- Hadi had three different Yemeni passports with different names and different dates of birth when he was arrested in Toronto.