BRAMPTON, Ontario (Reuters) - A publication ban on the court hearings of 17 men accused of planning al Qaeda-inspired attacks in Ontario is just another example that the men stand no chance of a fair trial, some defense lawyers said on Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lawyers said prosecutors asked for the ban only after the government had more than a week to publicly portray the Muslim men as terrorists who plotted to detonate massive bombs in Ottawa and Toronto and -- according to the defense -- behead the prime minister.
"They want to close the restaurant after they've had a banquet," lawyer Rocco Galati told reporters said outside the courthouse in Brampton, a Toronto suburb.
"After they've had 10 days with the media, feeding the media with whatever they want to feed the media ... they now have the audacity to request a publication ban of all proceedings from today's date."
Publication bans, which are often requested by the defense to protect the right to an unbiased jury, prohibit the media from reporting evidence presented in court hearings before the formal trial begins.
The men were arrested on June 2 in Canada's largest counterterrorism operation.
Lawyer Arif Raza said the information is already in the public domain. "You can't enforce the publication ban, the information is there... I don't know what is there to protect any more."
Lawyers complained of oppressive security at the courtroom and tough prison conditions for the men, including keeping the accused in rooms that are lit 24 hours a day, giving them just five minutes to eat and demanding they keep their eyes on the ground and not speak to guards.
They also said they had inadequate access to their clients, who are all Canadian citizens or residents.
Lawyer David Kolinsky said his client was injured in an incident during a search.
"He's ticklish and he giggled a bit (when the prison guard touched his ribs) and he was pushed down on the ground... The guard drilled his finger and knuckles into his cheek quite hard and he said: 'Is this funny?"' said Kolinsky.
Defense lawyers criticized the heavy security and said it was "entirely unnecessary" to keep the men handcuffed together and their legs shackled during court proceedings.
The 12 adults and five youths under 18 will be in court at month's end and in early July to set dates for bail hearings.
They are all charged with participating in a terrorist organization, and some are charged with plotting bombings in major Canadian cities and training or being trained as terrorists.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say the men took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be mixed with fuel oil to produce a powerful explosive. That is more fertilizer than was used to build the 1995 Oklahoma City bomb that killed 168 people.
Ahmad Shehab, director of the Coalition of Muslim Organizations, said the suspects' families were "devastated, frustrated and confused."
Galati described the proceedings as "a show trial for political ends ... to influence the vote in the House of Commons on extending the anti-terrorism provision and to influence the Supreme Court of Canada in its constitutional review of anti-terrorism provisions."
The Supreme Court will hold two days of hearings this week to rule on the constitutionality of laws that allow foreign terrorism suspects to be held for long periods without trial.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060612...Fi6F2gXMQdvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
ADVERTISEMENT
Lawyers said prosecutors asked for the ban only after the government had more than a week to publicly portray the Muslim men as terrorists who plotted to detonate massive bombs in Ottawa and Toronto and -- according to the defense -- behead the prime minister.
"They want to close the restaurant after they've had a banquet," lawyer Rocco Galati told reporters said outside the courthouse in Brampton, a Toronto suburb.
"After they've had 10 days with the media, feeding the media with whatever they want to feed the media ... they now have the audacity to request a publication ban of all proceedings from today's date."
Publication bans, which are often requested by the defense to protect the right to an unbiased jury, prohibit the media from reporting evidence presented in court hearings before the formal trial begins.
The men were arrested on June 2 in Canada's largest counterterrorism operation.
Lawyer Arif Raza said the information is already in the public domain. "You can't enforce the publication ban, the information is there... I don't know what is there to protect any more."
Lawyers complained of oppressive security at the courtroom and tough prison conditions for the men, including keeping the accused in rooms that are lit 24 hours a day, giving them just five minutes to eat and demanding they keep their eyes on the ground and not speak to guards.
They also said they had inadequate access to their clients, who are all Canadian citizens or residents.
Lawyer David Kolinsky said his client was injured in an incident during a search.
"He's ticklish and he giggled a bit (when the prison guard touched his ribs) and he was pushed down on the ground... The guard drilled his finger and knuckles into his cheek quite hard and he said: 'Is this funny?"' said Kolinsky.
Defense lawyers criticized the heavy security and said it was "entirely unnecessary" to keep the men handcuffed together and their legs shackled during court proceedings.
The 12 adults and five youths under 18 will be in court at month's end and in early July to set dates for bail hearings.
They are all charged with participating in a terrorist organization, and some are charged with plotting bombings in major Canadian cities and training or being trained as terrorists.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police say the men took steps to acquire three tons of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be mixed with fuel oil to produce a powerful explosive. That is more fertilizer than was used to build the 1995 Oklahoma City bomb that killed 168 people.
Ahmad Shehab, director of the Coalition of Muslim Organizations, said the suspects' families were "devastated, frustrated and confused."
Galati described the proceedings as "a show trial for political ends ... to influence the vote in the House of Commons on extending the anti-terrorism provision and to influence the Supreme Court of Canada in its constitutional review of anti-terrorism provisions."
The Supreme Court will hold two days of hearings this week to rule on the constitutionality of laws that allow foreign terrorism suspects to be held for long periods without trial.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060612...Fi6F2gXMQdvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-
