TORONTO --
Holocaust
denierErnst
Zündel filed a lawsuit against the federal
government Wednesday alleging that the nearly two
years he's spent behind bars were a violation of
his constitutional rights.

Word of the suit came after Zündel's most
recent bid to forestall his deportation to Germany
-- a motion seeking the removal of the Federal
Court judge hearing his case -- was formally denied
by the Federal Court of Appeal.

The lawsuit seeks only costs and a declaration
that Zündel, 65, be freed and that keeping him
in solitary confinement without charges for more
than 20 months violated his Charter rights, said
lawyer Peter Lindsay.

''There's no monetary compensation sought apart
from the costs of the action,'' Lindsay said in an
interview.

"This is not a lawsuit about money.
This is a lawsuit about principle and about
procedural fairness or unfairness. Not a dime is
being sought.''

On Tuesday, the Federal Court of Appeal quashed
Lindsay's motion to have Justice Pierre
Blais, whom Lindsay accused of being biased
against his client, removed from the case.

Zündel is being held under a rarely-used
security certificate, which classifies him as a
risk to Canadian security based on secret evidence
which Blais will use to decide whether the
certificate is reasonable.

''If he decides it is reasonable, then it
becomes a removal order and there's no appeal and
there's no right of judicial review,'' Lindsay
said.

"If he decides it's unreasonable, then it would
be quashed and that would be the end of it . . .
(but) we're concerned the result will be a negative
result.''

Like the many lawyers in Canada who have found
themselves before Federal Court judges in recent
years, trying to defend against evidence they're
not even allowed to see, Lindsay said defending his
client has been a frustrating task.

''How can I answer a case that I don't know what
the case is?'' he asked.

"How is it fair that one side gets to present
evidence, the judge gets to consider that evidence,
the other side doesn't even know what the evidence
is and is somehow supposed to challenge it?''

Zündel was in and out of courtrooms in
Canada in the early 1980s over his persistent
publication of material depicting the Holocaust as
a myth propagated to vilify Germans and justify
massive war reparations.

A resident of Canada for 42 years, Zündel
was jailed last year upon his return to Canada
after overstaying his visa in the U.S. In Germany,
he faces charges of suspicion of incitement to
hatred.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service
alleges Zündel has advised and encouraged some
25 people who advocate violence, including an
American writer whose book was found among the
possessions of convicted Oklahoma City bomber
Timothy McVeigh.

Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada refused
to hear his challenge of the constitutional
validity of the security certificate review process
under which he was declared inadmissible to
Canada.