New Zealand's most famous asylum seeker has finally received residency, following five years of struggle with the New Zealand judicial system.
Ahmed Zaoui, was a member of the Algerian branch of the Islamic Salvation Front (ISF), who stood as a candidate in the first elections since Algeria's independence in 1991.
After a poll revealed that the IFS would win the elections, the government banned the IFS, arresting thousands of its members and cancelling the elections.
A civil war followed and in 1993 Mr Zaoui fled Algeria. He was tried and convicted in absentia for terrorism-related offences and conspiring against the state.
Mr Zaoui said New Zealand had given him hope after somewhat ill treatment in Europe. Belgium had charged him with being the head of a criminal agency in March of 1994, and Switzerland had refused to give him asylum.
If Mr Zaoui had returned to Algeria he would have had to face six life sentences and two death sentences.
"I am a human being and I am equal to any other person, and why did I receive this persecution?" he asked.
Mr Zaoui was speaking at the Human Rights Foundation's AGM on Tuesday. He thanked members for their hard work and support during the years that he was detained in New Zealand.
Mr Zaoui expressed his gratitude to the New Zealand public and the Human Rights Foundation, for attending the court hearings, preparing flyers with information about his case, and even organising concerts to gather public support while he was detained.
He was granted bail in December 2004, but he had to report to the police twice a week and sleep in the Friary in central Auckland every night.
The head of the Security Intelligence Service, Dr Warren Tucker, withdrew the Security Risk Certificate against Mr Zaoui on September 13. Dr Tucker said Mr Zaoui had cooperated with authorities, and new information showed that he had not been involved in terrorism.
Mr Zaoui's lawyer Deborah Manning said Mr Zaoui's calm demeanor under pressure during the case had allowed people time to understand him better.
Mr Zaoui told the Human Rights Foundation he was very concerned that a key witness in his case in New Zealand had been arrested in Spain last month.
"He is still fighting to get his freedom," he said.
Attendees at the AGM shared stories with Mr Zaoui about their ongoing support for him over the years.
Ismail Waja, a former South African, came to New Zealand in 1992 with "racial scars".
He said the support Mr Zaoui had received from the New Zealand public had helped to heal his own wounds and notions about the white man.
"You come from a racial background where you been tortured very badly by white people and now suddenly your whole opinion changes," he said.
"I have a lot of white people as friends here, good genuine friends," Mr Waja said.
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