Algerian man challenges refusal to revoke deportation order
This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.
An Algerian man has challenged a second refusal by the Minister for Justice to revoke a deportation order against him. The High Court proceedings were reported on 19 December 2017. The man cannot be named for legal reasons.
On 19 December, his counsel, Micheal Lynn SC, told Mr Justice Richard Humphreys that the finding that the man was not at risk if returned to Algeria was irrational. He argued that the refusal made in September 2017 should be quashed. The Minister, represented by Remy Farrell SC, said the decision should remain undisturbed and the man should be deported.
In July 2017, the Supreme Court unanimously quashed an earlier refusal to revoke the deportation order, which had been issued in December 2016, and sent the case back to the Minister. The man had appealed an earlier High Court order upholding the Minister’s finding that there were no substantial grounds to believe he faced a real risk of ill-treatment. The State opposed that appeal.
The man says his political views put him at risk of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Algeria. The State said Algerian laws had changed to protect people from torture and ill-treatment and police had received human rights training. His counsel said there was no evidence that those changes had had a positive effect.
The State claims he is involved in Islamic terrorism. He denies involvement in terrorism or groups including Al-Qaeda. The report said he was convicted of several offences in Algeria during the 1990s and received three life sentences and two death sentences. The offences included forming an armed terrorist group intending to spread murder, sabotage, possession of prohibited war weapons, assassination and theft intended to harm Algeria’s security. After his arrest in France in 2002, he was found guilty of charges including membership of a criminal organisation and jailed for eight years.