Enemy of the State: The Ahmed Zaoui File

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What do you do when the state locks you in jail and calls you a terrorist - but refuses to say why? For the first time John Keir reveals the...

What do you do when the state locks you in jail and calls you a terrorist - but refuses to say why?

For the first time John Keir reveals the inside story of the fight to free New Zealand’s highest-profile political prisoner Ahmed Zaoui, from the man himself and the lawyers who took on the Prime Minister and the SIS to save him.

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Enemy of the State: The Ahmed Zaoui File

Trailer

22 JUL 2021 · What do you do when the state locks you in jail and calls you a terrorist - but refuses to say why? For the first time John Keir reveals the inside story of the fight to free New Zealand’s highest-profile political prisoner Ahmed Zaoui, from the man himself and the lawyers who took on the Prime Minister and the SIS to save him.

1m 4s
Chapter 1: The Fugitive

1 AUG 2021 · When Algerian fugitive Ahmed Zaoui arrives in New Zealand on a false passport just before Christmas 2002 and asks for asylum, it sparks a five-year security scandal, leading two young immigration lawyers Deborah Manning and Richard McLeod into conflict with the Government, the secretive SIS and international spy agencies.

31m 19s
Chapter 2: Big Fish

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

32m 36s
Chapter 3: A Rock in the Road

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

40m 21s
Chapter 4: Fighting Windmills

1 AUG 2021 · 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…

34m 35s
Chapter 5: The Tipping Point

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

30m 16s
Chapter 6: Crescent and Cross

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

32m 30s
Chapter 7: Playing Detective

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

31m 6s
Chapter 8: Dirty Tricks

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

30m 2s
Chapter 9: The Backdown

1 AUG 2021 · 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.

34m 34s