Canadian terror suspect Mohamed Harkat won a small victory Monday when a Federal Court judge approved lighter bail conditions for the Ottawa man.
Lawyers for Harkat and Crown prosecutors agreed in an Ottawa courtroom to ease the conditions.
The long list of restrictions was reduced from 10 pages to three, The Canadian Press reports. Harkat's previous conditions were among the strictest ever imposed by a Canadian court.
Under the changes made by Justice Simon Noel on Monday, Harkat will no longer have surveillance cameras in his house, visitors will no longer have to be approved and his mail and phone calls will no longer be monitored.
However, the following conditions will be put in place after the new conditions are signed:
- Harkat must wear a monitoring bracelet on his ankle
- He will only be allowed to use landline telephones
- His passport will be held by federal agents but he can travel unsupervised in the Ottawa area
The easing of restrictions comes after a federal risk assessment determined that Harkat's high profile in the public means he is less of a threat.
His lawyers are seeking further freedoms for their client.
Harkat was first arrested in December 2002 by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on allegations he is an Islamic extremist.
The former pizza delivery man and gas station worker has denied CSIS' claim that he collaborated with al Qaeda.
Ottawa has been trying to deport the Algeria-born Harkat -- who has never been charged with a crime -- under the rarely used national security certificate.
He is one of five men currently living in Canada under security certificates.
Harkat was behind bars from 2002 to 2004, but has been under house arrest since then.
Security certificates on the way out?
Canada has used the certificates since the late 1980s. The tool allows officials to immediately jail and eventually deport non-citizens who are considered to be security threats.
In order for a certificate to be issued, two federal cabinet ministers must sign off on the certificate after viewing secret CSIS information.
The Globe and Mail reported Monday that Ottawa is planning to quash the security certificate case against Adil Charkaoui, a Moroccan living in Montreal, due to the increasing unpopularity of the tool.
The move may signal the beginning of the end for security certificates, the paper reports.
Search was 'unconstitutional'
Earlier this year, Canada Border Service Agency agents carried out a search of Harkat's home, which a court later said was unconstitutional.
A dozen CBSA agents were involved in the search on May 12, along with RCMP and local and provincial police.
In June, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that agents must return all items that were taken and destroy copies of any documents taken from the home, because the search breached Harkat's Charter rights.
Harkat's wife Sophie told CTV's Canada AM at the time that she felt the couple's privacy and dignity had been violated.
The court agreed, calling the search "excessively intrusive."
