Captive in Canada

Four more charges stayed in alleged terror plot that captured global headlines

Source: Canadian Press - 15-apr-08

BRAMPTON, Ont. - Four men rounded up in an anti-terrorism operation that captured headlines around the world emerged from court Tuesday with all charges against them essentially dropped, further diminishing a prosecution that has seen the so-called Toronto 18 whittled down to 11.

With charges also stayed against three youth suspects and court documents alleging the bulk of the terror suspects were duped into attending a camp where daily runs to Tim Hortons were part of the regimen, defence lawyers questioned the strength of the Crown’s case against the remaining suspects.

On Tuesday, almost two years after the initial charges were laid, the judge dismissed the four men by simply saying “you’re all free to leave.”

At least one defence lawyer called for an inquiry into why his client was jailed while another questioned the Crown’s motives.

“My professional view, as a criminal and constitutional lawyer, is that the evidence doesn’t amount to a hill of beans,” said lawyer Rocco Galati, who represents Ahmad Mustafa Ghany.

“I think a lot of western prosecutions on alleged terrorism charges are simply horse-and-pony shows (to) further George Bush’s oil war and to sustain Canada’s commitment in Afghanistan.”

Ghany, Qayyum Abdul Jamal, Ibrahim Aboud and Yasim Mohamed had their charges stayed Tuesday, which essentially means the charges are dropped unless the Crown reactivates them within a year.

Calling his client a “model” Canadian-born citizen who graduated among the top 15 per cent of his class, volunteered as a Big Brother and worked as a research assistant at the University of Toronto, Galati said he was “glad” to see the charges stayed - even if it took almost two years.

Still, Galati said a cloud of suspicion will follow his client - who spent three-and-a-half weeks in solitary confinement before he was granted bail last July.

“The arrest itself stigmatizes them for life,” he said, adding the charges would have likely been stayed sooner if a proper preliminary hearing had been held. The Crown decided in late September to halt those proceedings and proceed to trial by direct indictment.

Jamal, Ghany and Aboud all signed one-year peace bonds Tuesday under which they’re required to abide by a curfew and a variety of other conditions.

“The (Public Prosecution Service of Canada) is not contemplating any further proceedings against the fourth individual at this time,” spokesman Dan Brien said outside the courthouse, refusing to entertain questions on what Tuesday’s developments meant for the remaining prosecutions.

“I can’t comment on the details of the case subject to publication bans,” he said.

The 11 remaining suspects face charges of attending an alleged terrorist training camp and being involved in an alleged plot to storm Parliament Hill and bomb targets in Toronto and Ottawa.

Seventeen men and youths in the Toronto area were arrested in June 2006. An 18th suspect was arrested two months later.

Outside court, Jamal said he’s anxious to return to school.

“I feel very good. I feel very good and very relaxed,” he said. “I will go on with my life. I am going back to do some course in college.”

But Jamal’s lawyer, Anser Farooq, said he wants answers as to why his client spent some 18 months behind bars, often in solitary confinement.

“As far as I’m concerned… there should be some form of inquiry as to why it was this gentleman who spent such a period of time in custody and spent it in the fashion that he did,” he said.

A defence factum filed with the court suggests only two suspects and police informant Mubin Shaikh knew the true purpose of the so-called training camp, which was to “identify people of skill, physical and spiritual,” and not to conduct training.

According to court documents released last month, an alleged terrorist accused of wanting to behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper was lured to the camp on the assumption he was doing some winter camping and was frequently sent on coffee runs to Tim Hortons.

Related: Ghany • Ibrahim Aboud • Qayyum Abdul Jamal • Yasin Mohamed

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