An event on Sunday, 18 April, 1:30pm at Vermont St, Ponsonby, Auckland marked 500 days of Ahmed Zaoui's imprisonment in New Zealand.

The event was organized by a church and a mosque which face each other on Vermont Street. Five hundred candles were lit to mark the occasion. The event was jointly organised by the religious groups, Amnesty International and the Human Rights Foundation. The candles were a symbol of shared commitment to justice, equality and a world without fear.

Alex Davidson, who runs the website freezaoui.org.nz said 500 days behind bars is far more than enough.

“Ahmed Zaoui has now been imprisoned in New Zealand for 500 days. The Government refuses to move him to a more suitable location despite legislation designed to allow people in Ahmed Zaoui's situation to be treated with more humanity” Alex Davidson said.

“If the government insists on following the tortured course of the faulty Security Risk Certificate legislation through the court system, then Ahmed Zaoui must be moved from prison to somewhere more suitable.

“It is not acceptable for Ahmed Zaoui to be the ‘guinea pig’ for flawed legislation, bearing the full weight of 500 days imprisonment, without an end in sight.”

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