*** It does appear he is a prime candidate for rehabilitation. Part of sentencing is to look at the mitigating factors, that is if we can take our blinders off. MS ***
FROM: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100519/saad-khalid-toronto18-appeal-100519/20100519?hub=Canada
Terrorism is the height of criminal behaviour -- eclipsing even first-degree murder -- and prison terms must reflect the severity of the offence, Crown lawyers will argue before Ontario's highest court.
The Crown is calling on the Ontario Court of Appeal to increase the sentence of Saad Khalid, a member of the so-called Toronto 18.
Khalid pleaded guilty last year to participating in a terror plot with the intention of causing an explosion. He was sentenced to 14 years, which amounts to seven more years in custody after credit for time served.
Court documents filed in advance of the hearing, scheduled for Thursday, show Crown lawyers will argue that is far too lenient for such a heinous crime.
"At present he will be eligible to walk free on parole five-and-a-half years after the date of his arrest, and be totally free of penal supervision four-and-a-half years later," the lawyers write.
"On the scale of relative severity, this crime is at the very apex, eclipsing even the most serious forms of ordinary criminal violence."
The Crown argues the starting point for sentencing for active participation in a terrorist plot intent on causing death and "indiscriminate harm" to hundreds of innocent people should be life imprisonment.
Khalid was not the leader of the plot he was convicted in, so in this case the Crown says a further four to six years should be added to Khalid's sentence, making it 18 to 20, which they had asked for at the sentencing hearing.
"The moral blameworthiness and potential impact of this crime are an order of magnitude greater than that found in a single pre-meditated homicide, for which a life sentence is automatic," the Crown writes.
"It is just and proportionate that an individual who plots a crime as this will be permanently under the supervision of the state."
The Crown also contends the trial judge erred in not making an order under the Criminal Code for terrorism offences that the offender has to serve half the sentence or 10 years, whichever is less, before being released on full parole.
Khalid's lawyers suggest in court documents that the trial judge didn't actually make any errors in sentencing, rather the Crown just didn't get their way.
"Ultimately the appellant's complaint amounts to no more than that they believe the respondent's sentence was not long enough," his lawyers write.
There were plenty of mitigating factors that justify Khalid's sentence length, his lawyers write.
He was young -- 19 years old -- at the time of the offence, he pleaded guilty, and he demonstrated sincere remorse, they note. A psychiatrist found he poses no acute risk to himself or others and he has sought out spiritual counselling to understand and change his thinking.
"At the time he was sentenced, he was not the same person he was when he committed the offence," his lawyers write.
He has received a great deal of support from the community, has two offers of immediate employment upon his release and 64 relatives, friends and acquaintances have contributed more than $63,000 to an educational trust fund, his lawyers say.
Showing posts with label Brampton terror trial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brampton terror trial. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
FLAG DID NOT TIP OFF TORONTO 18 ACCUSED
FROM: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Flag+didn+Toronto+suspect+terrorist+training+camp/3047691/story.html
Shortly after arriving at a winter campsite in Washago, Ont., more than four years ago, Asad Ansari saw a black flag overlaid with white Arabic script.
Under cross-examination by Crown attorney Jason Wakely Wednesday, Ansari, who stands accused of participating in a terrorist group, admitted he knew similar flags were frequently used as symbols of violent jihad — but says he never made the connection while at the camp.
"That thought didn't cross my mind at the time," Ansari said, noting he believed the flag to be a holy Islamic symbol.
He admitted he had seen similar flags "in the news . . . mainly (in) stories about terrorism."
Asked whether he was aware of this connection in late 2005, when he attended the camp, Ansari said he was, adding the symbol had been "co-opted by violent jihadists."
Ansari contends he never knew the Washago camp was intended as a terrorist training ground for the "Toronto 18," a group of alleged terror plotters who were rounded up in a police sting in the spring of 2006.
Rather, he has told the court, he believed he was simply attending a winter camping trip with friends.
When he saw the flag, Ansari testified: "(I did not say) whoa, I'm at a terrorist training camp."
Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard a series of intercepted phone calls between Ansari and Toronto 18 ringleader Fahim Ahmad, who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges last week.
The Crown alleges the homegrown terror cell recruited Ansari for his technical savvy, but the defence maintains he knew nothing of the plot to attack targets in Toronto and Ottawa when he agreed to work on Ahmad's computer in early 2006.
Star Crown witness Mubin Shaikh has testified that Ansari told him he intentionally deleted a video of the Washago camp — in which participants can be seen shooting guns and wrestling, with Arabic chanting overlaid as a soundtrack — from Ahmad's computer, in addition to deleting MSN chat logs.
Defence lawyer John Norris asked his client whether he had ever spoken to Shaikh about the nature of his work on Ahmad's computer.
"I did not," Ansari replied.
The defence contends Ansari was repairing Ahmad's computer, which had become infected with malicious software, as a favour to his friend.
In one of the intercepted phone calls, Ansari and Ahmad discuss a file called "firefight" on Ahmad's computer. The file contained text about "urban guerrilla warfare," Ansari told the court.
"Where did you get it from?" Ansari asks Ahmad during the call.
"Uh, you know," Ahmad responds, later adding it is from "their own site."
Ansari told the jury he did not know what Ahmad meant by that.
Ansari, 25, and Steven Chand, 29, are the remaining two to be tried in the Toronto 18 case. It is the first time terrorism charges will be tested by a Canadian jury.
Shortly after arriving at a winter campsite in Washago, Ont., more than four years ago, Asad Ansari saw a black flag overlaid with white Arabic script.
Under cross-examination by Crown attorney Jason Wakely Wednesday, Ansari, who stands accused of participating in a terrorist group, admitted he knew similar flags were frequently used as symbols of violent jihad — but says he never made the connection while at the camp.
"That thought didn't cross my mind at the time," Ansari said, noting he believed the flag to be a holy Islamic symbol.
He admitted he had seen similar flags "in the news . . . mainly (in) stories about terrorism."
Asked whether he was aware of this connection in late 2005, when he attended the camp, Ansari said he was, adding the symbol had been "co-opted by violent jihadists."
Ansari contends he never knew the Washago camp was intended as a terrorist training ground for the "Toronto 18," a group of alleged terror plotters who were rounded up in a police sting in the spring of 2006.
Rather, he has told the court, he believed he was simply attending a winter camping trip with friends.
When he saw the flag, Ansari testified: "(I did not say) whoa, I'm at a terrorist training camp."
Earlier Wednesday, the jury heard a series of intercepted phone calls between Ansari and Toronto 18 ringleader Fahim Ahmad, who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges last week.
The Crown alleges the homegrown terror cell recruited Ansari for his technical savvy, but the defence maintains he knew nothing of the plot to attack targets in Toronto and Ottawa when he agreed to work on Ahmad's computer in early 2006.
Star Crown witness Mubin Shaikh has testified that Ansari told him he intentionally deleted a video of the Washago camp — in which participants can be seen shooting guns and wrestling, with Arabic chanting overlaid as a soundtrack — from Ahmad's computer, in addition to deleting MSN chat logs.
Defence lawyer John Norris asked his client whether he had ever spoken to Shaikh about the nature of his work on Ahmad's computer.
"I did not," Ansari replied.
The defence contends Ansari was repairing Ahmad's computer, which had become infected with malicious software, as a favour to his friend.
In one of the intercepted phone calls, Ansari and Ahmad discuss a file called "firefight" on Ahmad's computer. The file contained text about "urban guerrilla warfare," Ansari told the court.
"Where did you get it from?" Ansari asks Ahmad during the call.
"Uh, you know," Ahmad responds, later adding it is from "their own site."
Ansari told the jury he did not know what Ahmad meant by that.
Ansari, 25, and Steven Chand, 29, are the remaining two to be tried in the Toronto 18 case. It is the first time terrorism charges will be tested by a Canadian jury.
Monday, January 18, 2010
TORONTO BOMB PLOT'S SAAD GAYA GETS 12 YEARS (7YRS CREDIT, 4 1/2 YRS REMAIN)
*** 12 years total sentence, minus the 7 1/2 years credit for pre-trial custody giving him 4 1/2 years left with the option of parole as early as 2 years (discretionary not automatic). MS ***
FROM: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2455061
BRAMPTON -- One of the "Toronto 18" conspirators was handed a 12-year sentence this morning for his participation in a plot to bomb several key targets in and around the city.
Saad Gaya, 21, showed little reaction as Justice Bruce Durno read out the sentence, but smiled slightly at supporters as he exited the courtroom.
In his decision, Judge Durno acknowledged Mr. Gaya did not play a leading role in the 2006 bomb plot.
"Saad Gaya was not the prime mover in the plan... he took detailed orders," the judge said.
With time served taken into account on a two-for-one basis, and a small amount of extra credit given for Gaya's 14 months in solitary confinement, he has 4-and-a-half years left to serve. Gaya will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of that time.
The Crown, which had been seeking a term of 17 to 18 years, has 30 days to file an appeal.
"We'll review the decision and read it carefully," Crown attorney Croft Michaelson said.
Defence lawyer Paul Slansky, who had been seeking a 10-year sentence, said he did not believe Gaya was given sufficient credit for his time in solitary.
"I'm less pleased than I might have been," Mr. Slansky said outside court. Gaya, who was born in Montreal to parents originally from Pakistan, told police after his arrest that the goal of the terrorist plot was to push Canadian troops out of Afghanistan, but said he did not know the bomb targets, which included the Toronto Stock Exchange, a CSIS facility and a military base.
Gaya admitted he tried to rent a house in which the group planned to store bomb-making chemicals, such as ammonium nitrate.
A number of Gaya's friends and family who attended court today declined to comment on the young man's sentence.
Zakaria Amara, the ringleader of the Toronto 18 plot, is to be sentenced this afternoon.
FROM: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2455061
BRAMPTON -- One of the "Toronto 18" conspirators was handed a 12-year sentence this morning for his participation in a plot to bomb several key targets in and around the city.
Saad Gaya, 21, showed little reaction as Justice Bruce Durno read out the sentence, but smiled slightly at supporters as he exited the courtroom.
In his decision, Judge Durno acknowledged Mr. Gaya did not play a leading role in the 2006 bomb plot.
"Saad Gaya was not the prime mover in the plan... he took detailed orders," the judge said.
With time served taken into account on a two-for-one basis, and a small amount of extra credit given for Gaya's 14 months in solitary confinement, he has 4-and-a-half years left to serve. Gaya will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of that time.
The Crown, which had been seeking a term of 17 to 18 years, has 30 days to file an appeal.
"We'll review the decision and read it carefully," Crown attorney Croft Michaelson said.
Defence lawyer Paul Slansky, who had been seeking a 10-year sentence, said he did not believe Gaya was given sufficient credit for his time in solitary.
"I'm less pleased than I might have been," Mr. Slansky said outside court. Gaya, who was born in Montreal to parents originally from Pakistan, told police after his arrest that the goal of the terrorist plot was to push Canadian troops out of Afghanistan, but said he did not know the bomb targets, which included the Toronto Stock Exchange, a CSIS facility and a military base.
Gaya admitted he tried to rent a house in which the group planned to store bomb-making chemicals, such as ammonium nitrate.
A number of Gaya's friends and family who attended court today declined to comment on the young man's sentence.
Zakaria Amara, the ringleader of the Toronto 18 plot, is to be sentenced this afternoon.
Friday, January 15, 2010
MONEY NOT A MOTIVATION FOR RCMP AGENT
*** Hey simple question for the naysayers and complainers: are you willing to go undercover as an agent for your country's police service in a massive investigation like this, with a real plot by (some) people with real know-how, risk it all, give it all up, cut off friends and family FOR FREE?
I didn't think so.
Canada spent over $100 million in the Air India inquiry and no one was prosecuted properly for it yet hundreds of Canadians died. 4 mil is a drop in the bucket. MS ***
FROM: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2446374
The moral imperative, and not an expectation of compensation, motivated Shaher Elsohemy to go undercover as a police agent to infiltrate the now-notorious "Toronto 18" terrorism plot, a court heard on Friday.
"The money did not play any role in my motivation," Mr. Elsohemy, the Crown's star witness, told a Brampton Superior Court judge. Though he would ultimately receive a $4-million witness protection package after helping police foil the 2006 bomb plot, Mr. Elsohemy said he was driven by his "responsibility as a Canadian citizen, and nothing but that."
Financial compensation was not discussed until mid-April, Mr. Elsohemy testified, several days after he had already unravelled for police the full Toronto 18 plot, which involved detonating powerful explosives at the Toronto Stock Exchange, a downtown CSIS facility and a military base between Toronto and Ottawa.
Mr. Elsohemy gained inside access to the terrorism plot with promises of obtaining bomb-making chemicals, including three tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
He has been testifying all week at the trial of Shareef Abdelhaleem, who is charged with playing a key role in the Toronto 18 scheme.
The court heard that right up until his arrest on June 2, 2006, Mr. Abdelhaleem was unwittingly arranging illicit dealings involving several undercover police agents: Mr. Elsohemy, an officer posing as the landlord of a warehouse the group rented to store chemicals, and a third officer who drove a truck purportedly filled with nitric acid and ammonium nitrate to that warehouse.
Right up until the moment the plot fell apart, Mr. Elsohemy testified, Mr. Abdelhaleem was finetuning a myriad of small details to ensure the chemical delivery went off without a hitch. He developed a code for communicating with two accomplices manning the Newmarket warehouse -- who were to wear shirts emblazoned with the logo "student farmers" to alleviate suspicion over the large chemical shipment -- and discussed how they pair should adapt their behaviour, the court heard.
"They will dress as we told them to, and they will shave and smoke cigarettes in front of the [chemical truck] driver," he allegedly told Mr. Elsohemy.
The accused suggested coating the warehouse doors with a layer of wax so the group could determine whether there had been any unauthorized entry, the judge heard.
Mr. Abdelhaleem also requested that once the delivery was complete, Mr. Elsohemy should bring him a small sample of the chemicals for a "trial explosion," the witness testified.
After the shipment on June 2, 2006, Mr. Elsohemy says he talked to Mr. Abdelhaleem on the phone and relayed the message, "thank God," meant to indicate a successful delivery.
"That was the last time I spoke to Mr. Abdelhaleem," Mr. Elsohemy testified. The arrests followed swiftly afterward.
Defence lawyer William Naylor is scheduled to begin his cross-examination this afternoon.
I didn't think so.
Canada spent over $100 million in the Air India inquiry and no one was prosecuted properly for it yet hundreds of Canadians died. 4 mil is a drop in the bucket. MS ***
FROM: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2446374
The moral imperative, and not an expectation of compensation, motivated Shaher Elsohemy to go undercover as a police agent to infiltrate the now-notorious "Toronto 18" terrorism plot, a court heard on Friday.
"The money did not play any role in my motivation," Mr. Elsohemy, the Crown's star witness, told a Brampton Superior Court judge. Though he would ultimately receive a $4-million witness protection package after helping police foil the 2006 bomb plot, Mr. Elsohemy said he was driven by his "responsibility as a Canadian citizen, and nothing but that."
Financial compensation was not discussed until mid-April, Mr. Elsohemy testified, several days after he had already unravelled for police the full Toronto 18 plot, which involved detonating powerful explosives at the Toronto Stock Exchange, a downtown CSIS facility and a military base between Toronto and Ottawa.
Mr. Elsohemy gained inside access to the terrorism plot with promises of obtaining bomb-making chemicals, including three tonnes of ammonium nitrate.
He has been testifying all week at the trial of Shareef Abdelhaleem, who is charged with playing a key role in the Toronto 18 scheme.
The court heard that right up until his arrest on June 2, 2006, Mr. Abdelhaleem was unwittingly arranging illicit dealings involving several undercover police agents: Mr. Elsohemy, an officer posing as the landlord of a warehouse the group rented to store chemicals, and a third officer who drove a truck purportedly filled with nitric acid and ammonium nitrate to that warehouse.
Right up until the moment the plot fell apart, Mr. Elsohemy testified, Mr. Abdelhaleem was finetuning a myriad of small details to ensure the chemical delivery went off without a hitch. He developed a code for communicating with two accomplices manning the Newmarket warehouse -- who were to wear shirts emblazoned with the logo "student farmers" to alleviate suspicion over the large chemical shipment -- and discussed how they pair should adapt their behaviour, the court heard.
"They will dress as we told them to, and they will shave and smoke cigarettes in front of the [chemical truck] driver," he allegedly told Mr. Elsohemy.
The accused suggested coating the warehouse doors with a layer of wax so the group could determine whether there had been any unauthorized entry, the judge heard.
Mr. Abdelhaleem also requested that once the delivery was complete, Mr. Elsohemy should bring him a small sample of the chemicals for a "trial explosion," the witness testified.
After the shipment on June 2, 2006, Mr. Elsohemy says he talked to Mr. Abdelhaleem on the phone and relayed the message, "thank God," meant to indicate a successful delivery.
"That was the last time I spoke to Mr. Abdelhaleem," Mr. Elsohemy testified. The arrests followed swiftly afterward.
Defence lawyer William Naylor is scheduled to begin his cross-examination this afternoon.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
NO ENTRAPMENT IN TORONTO 18 CASE
*** Posted as an FYI since some people still don't get it. To be fair, this only applies to the youth proceedings but the message applies broadly to the remaining accused also. MS ***
http://www.thestar.com/article/607827 (Published On Wed Mar 25 2009)
No entrapment, judge rules in terrorism case
Police mole vindicated as court clears actions with accused youth
After years of "trash talk" and criticism for infiltrating an alleged homegrown terror cell, police mole Mubin Shaikh said he felt vindicated after a judge yesterday ruled that he acted appropriately and did not entrap one of the accused youths.
"My life has revolved around this point of entrapment and a lot of people have come out to say a lot of bad things about me," said Shaikh, referring to comments that have surfaced online in the Muslim community and within mosques.
"I knew right from the beginning that I was doing the right thing. ... I didn't put my neck out for the community to trash me," Shaikh said outside the courthouse, adding he "put up with a lot of trash talk."
The 33-year-old man said he was pleased the judge noted in his ruling that he believed Shaikh was motivated by his "moral and religious convictions."
When delivering his decision in a Brampton court, Superior Court Justice John Sproat did not read his 53-page ruling, but did state, "There has not been any entrapment and there has not been any abuse of process."
Shaikh's status at a terrorist training camp in December 2005 came under unusual scrutiny, given the unprecedented nature of this landmark case involving 14 men and four youths. The suspects, known as the Toronto 18, were charged in 2006 with belonging to a cell plotting to detonate truck bombs.
To date, four adults and three youths have had their charges stayed. The remaining youth, who is now 21, was found guilty of terrorism-related offences in September, but his lawyers brought forth a motion alleging he was lured into the group by Shaikh and should have the charge stayed.
In his ruling, Sproat said the winter camp had already been planned before Shaikh infiltrated the group and that the youth was invited by the alleged ringleaders.
"The camp would have been much the same had Shaikh not attended," wrote Sproat. "The information and indoctrination presented to (the accused) was not influenced or affected by any state action."
Sproat also noted Shaikh had limited contact with the teen after the camp, which was when his involvement intensified by shoplifting for the group and attending a second camp.
Defence counsel Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza had argued that by taking on the role of a trainer, encouraging their client to perform better and training him in the use of a firearm, Shaikh was teaching the teen how to be a criminal.
They portrayed their client at the time as an impressionable 17-year-old convert to Islam desperate for acceptance and religious guidance.
But Sproat ruled the teen's age was "not much of an impediment to understanding the simple truth that a handgun was being fired, military-style exercises were being conducted and (the alleged ringleader) was exhorting the attendees to kick off a battle in which they would kill and perhaps be killed."
Crown prosecutors John Neander and Marco Mendicino argued that at the time of the camp, Shaikh was working as a confidential informer for the RCMP and only became an agent in February 2006.
They also portrayed Shaikh as someone who tried to moderate the tone of the camp and encouraged the teen to seek appropriate religious guidance.
Lawyers are due to return to court on April 7 to argue whether the teen should be sentenced as an adult or youth. If sentenced as an adult, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Ten adults have yet to stand trial and Shaikh is expected to be the Crown's main witness.
*** The youth was sentenced to basically, time served and was released thereafter. SIX await trial now (four plead guilty). MS ***
http://www.thestar.com/article/607827 (Published On Wed Mar 25 2009)
No entrapment, judge rules in terrorism case
Police mole vindicated as court clears actions with accused youth
After years of "trash talk" and criticism for infiltrating an alleged homegrown terror cell, police mole Mubin Shaikh said he felt vindicated after a judge yesterday ruled that he acted appropriately and did not entrap one of the accused youths.
"My life has revolved around this point of entrapment and a lot of people have come out to say a lot of bad things about me," said Shaikh, referring to comments that have surfaced online in the Muslim community and within mosques.
"I knew right from the beginning that I was doing the right thing. ... I didn't put my neck out for the community to trash me," Shaikh said outside the courthouse, adding he "put up with a lot of trash talk."
The 33-year-old man said he was pleased the judge noted in his ruling that he believed Shaikh was motivated by his "moral and religious convictions."
When delivering his decision in a Brampton court, Superior Court Justice John Sproat did not read his 53-page ruling, but did state, "There has not been any entrapment and there has not been any abuse of process."
Shaikh's status at a terrorist training camp in December 2005 came under unusual scrutiny, given the unprecedented nature of this landmark case involving 14 men and four youths. The suspects, known as the Toronto 18, were charged in 2006 with belonging to a cell plotting to detonate truck bombs.
To date, four adults and three youths have had their charges stayed. The remaining youth, who is now 21, was found guilty of terrorism-related offences in September, but his lawyers brought forth a motion alleging he was lured into the group by Shaikh and should have the charge stayed.
In his ruling, Sproat said the winter camp had already been planned before Shaikh infiltrated the group and that the youth was invited by the alleged ringleaders.
"The camp would have been much the same had Shaikh not attended," wrote Sproat. "The information and indoctrination presented to (the accused) was not influenced or affected by any state action."
Sproat also noted Shaikh had limited contact with the teen after the camp, which was when his involvement intensified by shoplifting for the group and attending a second camp.
Defence counsel Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza had argued that by taking on the role of a trainer, encouraging their client to perform better and training him in the use of a firearm, Shaikh was teaching the teen how to be a criminal.
They portrayed their client at the time as an impressionable 17-year-old convert to Islam desperate for acceptance and religious guidance.
But Sproat ruled the teen's age was "not much of an impediment to understanding the simple truth that a handgun was being fired, military-style exercises were being conducted and (the alleged ringleader) was exhorting the attendees to kick off a battle in which they would kill and perhaps be killed."
Crown prosecutors John Neander and Marco Mendicino argued that at the time of the camp, Shaikh was working as a confidential informer for the RCMP and only became an agent in February 2006.
They also portrayed Shaikh as someone who tried to moderate the tone of the camp and encouraged the teen to seek appropriate religious guidance.
Lawyers are due to return to court on April 7 to argue whether the teen should be sentenced as an adult or youth. If sentenced as an adult, he could face up to 10 years in prison.
Ten adults have yet to stand trial and Shaikh is expected to be the Crown's main witness.
*** The youth was sentenced to basically, time served and was released thereafter. SIX await trial now (four plead guilty). MS ***
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
