BRAMPTON -- A 20-year-old Toronto man has been found guilty of participating in a homegrown terror cell that was plotting to kill civilians.
Justice John Sproat delivered his much-anticipated decision today more than two years after the young man was arrested along with 17 other people in a massive anti-terrorism sweep in the Greater Toronto area. He is the first of the so-called ‘Toronto 18' to face trial and his hearing was also considered the first test of the prosecution's case.
Mr. Sproat said the evidence that a terrorist group existed was "overwhelming."
"[The youth] knew what the alleged leader was all about and what the group was about," he said, reading from 94-page written decision. "[The youth] was aware of the political, religious and ideological motivations of the group and its terrorist intentions.
Mitchell Chernovsky, the youth's lawyer, has filed a motion to stay the proceedings, arguing that Mubin Shaikh, the police agent, acted illegally and entrapped their client. The motion will be heard on Dec. 15.
If their motion is unsuccessful, Mr. Chernovsky said he would consider appealing the decision.
The young man, who cannot not be named because he was underage at the time of his alleged crimes, listened intently to the judge while resting his bearded chin in his hand; but he showed little reaction to the verdict. His mother who sat in the crowded court gallery wept upon hearing the decision.
In his closing submissions, John Neader, the Crown attorney, said the men shared a "bond to do evil."
The group conspired to obtain firearms and to detonate truck bombs, using what they thought was three-tonnes of ammonium nitrate, according to prosecutors. RCMP said it was three times the amount used in the Oklahoma bombing in 1995, which killed 168 people.
Though the youth played a minor role in the sleeper cell - he was found guilty of attending a terrorist training camp and stealing for the group - he was an "eager acolyte" of the alleged leader, Mr. Sproat said.
The accused leader, who Mr. Sproat called "an extremely unsavoury character," had suggested that the youth was the ideal candidate to behead the prime minister in a raid on Parliament.
Mr. Sproat rejected the argument that the alleged leader as a "hapless fanatic who posed no risk." He also rejected the argument that the group was not a terrorist organization because their conduct amounted to "‘musings and fantasies' that had no possibility of implement."
"It occurred to me hearing this submission that it might well have been said prior to ‘September 11, 2001 that a plan to kill thousands and destroy landmark buildings in lower Manhattan and Washington had no possibility of implementation," Mr. Sproat said.
While I'm not comparing [the two alleged leaders] to the architects of the September 11 attacks, I do reject the argument that planning and working toward ultimate goals that appear unattainable, or even objectively unrealistic, precludes or even militates against a finding that this was a terrorist group."
After the ruling, Mubin Shaikh, who was paid about $300,000 to infiltrate the group, said he stands by his testimony that the youth was not a terrorist and was not privy to the details of any murderous plan, he told reporters outside the court house.
But Mr. Sproat said the youth did not need to know of a specific terrorist attack to be found guilty of participating in a terrorist group.
The youth attended at a two-week Winter camp near Washago, Ont. in December 2005, where the alleged leader gave a passionate exhortation, a "call to arms," inviting the recruits to defeat Rome, a metaphor for the West, he said.
After the camp, the youth understood the alleged leader's "terrorist intentions" and continued a close relationship with him, Mr. Sproat said.
Charges were stayed against seven of the 18 people arrested in the summer of 2006; with the youth being found not guilty, 10 adults remain accused in the so-called terror plot.
The youth's case is the first terror trial to conclude in Canada since Sept. 11, 2001; the high-profile case is considered by some to be a test of the country's ability to ferret out terrorists and prosecute them.
