Isis
- Thread starter Goober
- Start date
No more house arrest for ISIS bride repatriated from Syria
Author of the article:Michele Mandel
Published Oct 19, 2023 • 3 minute read
When ISIS bride Dure Ahmed left Toronto for the caliphate in Syria, she insists she had no clue what her notorious husband was up to, including the kidnapping and savage beheading of American journalist James Foley.
According to a recent interview she gave to the CBC and BBC, Ahmed claims she was “oblivious to what was going on” while her then-British husband El Shafee Elsheikh was committing atrocities as part of the British-accented ISIS terror cell known as “the Beatles.”
It’s hard to believe.
Yet lucky us, here she is back on Canadian soil with more freedom just granted under the restrictions of a terrorism peace bond issued on Thursday in Brampton by Ontario Court Justice Reginald Cornelius.
No longer under her bail condition of house arrest, the mother of two can now leave her home between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and will be able to have a laptop computer as long as she consents to the RCMP monitoring her activity through a tracking application called EverAccountable.
Ahmed must still wear a GPS ankle bracelet.
The judge agreed with federal Crown Marie Comiskey that there was a “reasonable basis to fear” Ahmed may commit terrorism offences by way of indoctrinating others given the long time she spent with high-ranking ISIS leaders, including her ex-husband, and then in the radical breeding grounds of the Syrian displacement camps.
But here she is.
In January, Ottawa agreed to bring home six Canadian women and 13 children from the Kurdish prison camp for ISIS families in Syria and in return their families dropped their federal court case accusing the government of violating their charter rights by leaving them there for years.
Repatriated in April and arrested when she arrived in Canada, Ahmed was freed on bail a few days later under strict house arrest conditions as she awaited the terrorism peace bond hearing that finally took place earlier this week.
It was only then that we learned how close she was to the ISIS leadership.
Captured in January 2018, her ex-husband, known as Jihadi Ringo, was sentenced last year to life imprisonment in the U.S. for his role in the heinous hostage-taking and beheadings of American, British, and Japanese citizens in the name of ISIS.
For her part, Ahmed was featured in a CNN report in 2019 claiming she didn’t know about the evils of the Islamic State when she followed Elsheikh to Syria in 2014, despite being a Middle Eastern studies graduate.
But she had no regrets at that time. “It was an easy life,” she told CNN. Asked if she knew anything of mass executions or Yezidi women enslaved and slaughtered by ISIS, Ahmed said she’d “briefly” heard about it.
“Well, having slaves is part of Shariah,” she shrugged. “I believe in Shariah, wherever Shariah is. We must follow whoever is implementing the way, the law.”
Now she’s singing a different song for a CBC/BBC podcast team: She was just a “dumb girl in love” when she agreed to join her husband and despite the rest of the world knowing about the horror of ISIS beheadings, Ahmed insisted she knew nothing.
She also says Elsheikh abused her and while she tried to run away many times, she told the Bloodlines podcast reporters that she only managed to leave after he divorced her.
The judge obviously believes she remains enough of a public safety concern that he’s blocked her from using social media and curtailed her internet usage. She also must “actively engage” with the RCMP Specialized Investigative Intervention Team for counselling to counter violent extremism.
Ahmed is barred from associating with anyone tied to terrorism and/or ISIS, including her ex-husband and her fellow ISIS brides including Ammara Amjad, who was arrested earlier this month for alleged participation in activities in support of a listed terror group.
She can’t access any videos, lectures or media reports related to any terror group and is not allowed to possess any weapons, travel documents or drive a vehicle.
But she should count herself lucky. In Britain, ISIS brides are stripped of their citizenship. But here, as Justin Trudeau once declared, “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”
mmandel@postmedia.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Michele Mandel
Published Oct 19, 2023 • 3 minute read
When ISIS bride Dure Ahmed left Toronto for the caliphate in Syria, she insists she had no clue what her notorious husband was up to, including the kidnapping and savage beheading of American journalist James Foley.
According to a recent interview she gave to the CBC and BBC, Ahmed claims she was “oblivious to what was going on” while her then-British husband El Shafee Elsheikh was committing atrocities as part of the British-accented ISIS terror cell known as “the Beatles.”
It’s hard to believe.
Yet lucky us, here she is back on Canadian soil with more freedom just granted under the restrictions of a terrorism peace bond issued on Thursday in Brampton by Ontario Court Justice Reginald Cornelius.
No longer under her bail condition of house arrest, the mother of two can now leave her home between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and will be able to have a laptop computer as long as she consents to the RCMP monitoring her activity through a tracking application called EverAccountable.
Ahmed must still wear a GPS ankle bracelet.
The judge agreed with federal Crown Marie Comiskey that there was a “reasonable basis to fear” Ahmed may commit terrorism offences by way of indoctrinating others given the long time she spent with high-ranking ISIS leaders, including her ex-husband, and then in the radical breeding grounds of the Syrian displacement camps.
But here she is.
In January, Ottawa agreed to bring home six Canadian women and 13 children from the Kurdish prison camp for ISIS families in Syria and in return their families dropped their federal court case accusing the government of violating their charter rights by leaving them there for years.
Repatriated in April and arrested when she arrived in Canada, Ahmed was freed on bail a few days later under strict house arrest conditions as she awaited the terrorism peace bond hearing that finally took place earlier this week.
It was only then that we learned how close she was to the ISIS leadership.
Captured in January 2018, her ex-husband, known as Jihadi Ringo, was sentenced last year to life imprisonment in the U.S. for his role in the heinous hostage-taking and beheadings of American, British, and Japanese citizens in the name of ISIS.
For her part, Ahmed was featured in a CNN report in 2019 claiming she didn’t know about the evils of the Islamic State when she followed Elsheikh to Syria in 2014, despite being a Middle Eastern studies graduate.
But she had no regrets at that time. “It was an easy life,” she told CNN. Asked if she knew anything of mass executions or Yezidi women enslaved and slaughtered by ISIS, Ahmed said she’d “briefly” heard about it.
“Well, having slaves is part of Shariah,” she shrugged. “I believe in Shariah, wherever Shariah is. We must follow whoever is implementing the way, the law.”
Now she’s singing a different song for a CBC/BBC podcast team: She was just a “dumb girl in love” when she agreed to join her husband and despite the rest of the world knowing about the horror of ISIS beheadings, Ahmed insisted she knew nothing.
She also says Elsheikh abused her and while she tried to run away many times, she told the Bloodlines podcast reporters that she only managed to leave after he divorced her.
The judge obviously believes she remains enough of a public safety concern that he’s blocked her from using social media and curtailed her internet usage. She also must “actively engage” with the RCMP Specialized Investigative Intervention Team for counselling to counter violent extremism.
Ahmed is barred from associating with anyone tied to terrorism and/or ISIS, including her ex-husband and her fellow ISIS brides including Ammara Amjad, who was arrested earlier this month for alleged participation in activities in support of a listed terror group.
She can’t access any videos, lectures or media reports related to any terror group and is not allowed to possess any weapons, travel documents or drive a vehicle.
But she should count herself lucky. In Britain, ISIS brides are stripped of their citizenship. But here, as Justin Trudeau once declared, “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”
mmandel@postmedia.com
MANDEL: No more house arrest for ISIS bride repatriated from Syria
Under the terrorism peace bond she signed in Brampton, Dure Ahmed must wear an ankle bracelet, abide by a curfew and stay off social media.
I suppose that Trudeau also considers the people who were celebrating the death of Jewish women & children are also Canadians (sic)No more house arrest for ISIS bride repatriated from Syria
Author of the article:Michele Mandel
Published Oct 19, 2023 • 3 minute read
When ISIS bride Dure Ahmed left Toronto for the caliphate in Syria, she insists she had no clue what her notorious husband was up to, including the kidnapping and savage beheading of American journalist James Foley.
According to a recent interview she gave to the CBC and BBC, Ahmed claims she was “oblivious to what was going on” while her then-British husband El Shafee Elsheikh was committing atrocities as part of the British-accented ISIS terror cell known as “the Beatles.”
It’s hard to believe.
Yet lucky us, here she is back on Canadian soil with more freedom just granted under the restrictions of a terrorism peace bond issued on Thursday in Brampton by Ontario Court Justice Reginald Cornelius.
No longer under her bail condition of house arrest, the mother of two can now leave her home between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. and will be able to have a laptop computer as long as she consents to the RCMP monitoring her activity through a tracking application called EverAccountable.
Ahmed must still wear a GPS ankle bracelet.
The judge agreed with federal Crown Marie Comiskey that there was a “reasonable basis to fear” Ahmed may commit terrorism offences by way of indoctrinating others given the long time she spent with high-ranking ISIS leaders, including her ex-husband, and then in the radical breeding grounds of the Syrian displacement camps.
But here she is.
In January, Ottawa agreed to bring home six Canadian women and 13 children from the Kurdish prison camp for ISIS families in Syria and in return their families dropped their federal court case accusing the government of violating their charter rights by leaving them there for years.
Repatriated in April and arrested when she arrived in Canada, Ahmed was freed on bail a few days later under strict house arrest conditions as she awaited the terrorism peace bond hearing that finally took place earlier this week.
It was only then that we learned how close she was to the ISIS leadership.
Captured in January 2018, her ex-husband, known as Jihadi Ringo, was sentenced last year to life imprisonment in the U.S. for his role in the heinous hostage-taking and beheadings of American, British, and Japanese citizens in the name of ISIS.
For her part, Ahmed was featured in a CNN report in 2019 claiming she didn’t know about the evils of the Islamic State when she followed Elsheikh to Syria in 2014, despite being a Middle Eastern studies graduate.
But she had no regrets at that time. “It was an easy life,” she told CNN. Asked if she knew anything of mass executions or Yezidi women enslaved and slaughtered by ISIS, Ahmed said she’d “briefly” heard about it.
“Well, having slaves is part of Shariah,” she shrugged. “I believe in Shariah, wherever Shariah is. We must follow whoever is implementing the way, the law.”
Now she’s singing a different song for a CBC/BBC podcast team: She was just a “dumb girl in love” when she agreed to join her husband and despite the rest of the world knowing about the horror of ISIS beheadings, Ahmed insisted she knew nothing.
She also says Elsheikh abused her and while she tried to run away many times, she told the Bloodlines podcast reporters that she only managed to leave after he divorced her.
The judge obviously believes she remains enough of a public safety concern that he’s blocked her from using social media and curtailed her internet usage. She also must “actively engage” with the RCMP Specialized Investigative Intervention Team for counselling to counter violent extremism.
Ahmed is barred from associating with anyone tied to terrorism and/or ISIS, including her ex-husband and her fellow ISIS brides including Ammara Amjad, who was arrested earlier this month for alleged participation in activities in support of a listed terror group.
She can’t access any videos, lectures or media reports related to any terror group and is not allowed to possess any weapons, travel documents or drive a vehicle.
But she should count herself lucky. In Britain, ISIS brides are stripped of their citizenship. But here, as Justin Trudeau once declared, “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”
mmandel@postmedia.com
MANDEL: No more house arrest for ISIS bride repatriated from Syria
Under the terrorism peace bond she signed in Brampton, Dure Ahmed must wear an ankle bracelet, abide by a curfew and stay off social media.
Calgary ISIS supporter pleads guilty to terrorism charge, had bomb-making instructions, court told
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Dec 01, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Mounties investigating a Calgary terrorism suspect found handwritten instructions in his bedroom on how to make a bomb, court heard Friday.
Zakarya Rida Hussein, 20, pleaded guilty in Calgary Court of Justice to a charge of facilitating a terrorist activity.
Crown prosecutor Kent Brown, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told Justice Harry Van Harten that following Hussein’s arrest last June 15, police conducted a search of his home and vehicle.
Among the items seized, Brown said, was a “notebook containing handwritten notes with step-by-step instructions for making an improvised explosive device.”
Brown said investigators then consulted with the RCMP explosive disposal unit and the trace evidence chemistry group of RCMP National Forensic Laboratory Services.
That consultation “determined that the handwritten instructions located in the accused’s room appeared to be a viable and accurate means for the creation of a homemade explosive, as was the description in the instructions to fabricate a detonator,” Brown said.
The agreed facts, signed by Hussein and defence counsel Alain Hepner, also noted the offender “used his Telegram account to send an unknown user an ISIS video that explained how to make a bomb at home.
“The user responded asking about the size of the explosion and the accused said it was like a grenade. The instructions in the ISIS video matched the handwritten instructions that were seized from the accused’s bedroom.”
Brown also told Van Harten that on May 14, Hussein “knowingly facilitated terrorist activity by posting an ISIS recruitment video to TikTok.”
Among the comments Hussein’s video generated was one user stating: “Beheading and killing infidel soldiers is permitted in combat. So is enslaving the kuffar (disbeliever) soldier women,” the prosecutor said.
An RCMP expert on extremism “determined that the video was produced by al-Risalah Media, an extremist supporting media front,” Brown told court.
LGBTQ+ community, United Conservative Party also targeted
Hussein also spoke of targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community.
On June 1, he posted in a chat on Snapchat: “Tomorrow my mission begins. It’s pride month. I’ve been waiting,” Brown said.
“The accused then referenced two different types of explosive devices.”
Eight days later, Hussein shared a video to a group chat “of men being thrown off buildings and then being stoned. The video contained extremist ideological interpretations that encouraged the killing of gay men.”
Hussein also posted other ISIS videos, including ones showing mass executions and beheadings, Brown said.
Hussein also showed his wrath toward the United Conservative Party, replying to a March 2 automated message asking for his support by saying: “I’m gonna do a terrorist attack on you guys.”
Apparently undeterred, the party sent another automated message a month later asking if they could put up a sign at his home.
“He replied, ‘I’ll blow you guys up with explosives,’ ” Brown said.
At Hepner’s request, Van Harten ordered a psychiatric risk assessment on the offender at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre.
Hepner asked the judge to recommend the assessment be conducted by psychologist Dr. Patrick Baillie.
A date for sentencing submissions will be set Dec. 19.
Hussein remains in custody pending resolution to the case.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Dec 01, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Mounties investigating a Calgary terrorism suspect found handwritten instructions in his bedroom on how to make a bomb, court heard Friday.
Zakarya Rida Hussein, 20, pleaded guilty in Calgary Court of Justice to a charge of facilitating a terrorist activity.
Crown prosecutor Kent Brown, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told Justice Harry Van Harten that following Hussein’s arrest last June 15, police conducted a search of his home and vehicle.
Among the items seized, Brown said, was a “notebook containing handwritten notes with step-by-step instructions for making an improvised explosive device.”
Brown said investigators then consulted with the RCMP explosive disposal unit and the trace evidence chemistry group of RCMP National Forensic Laboratory Services.
That consultation “determined that the handwritten instructions located in the accused’s room appeared to be a viable and accurate means for the creation of a homemade explosive, as was the description in the instructions to fabricate a detonator,” Brown said.
The agreed facts, signed by Hussein and defence counsel Alain Hepner, also noted the offender “used his Telegram account to send an unknown user an ISIS video that explained how to make a bomb at home.
“The user responded asking about the size of the explosion and the accused said it was like a grenade. The instructions in the ISIS video matched the handwritten instructions that were seized from the accused’s bedroom.”
Brown also told Van Harten that on May 14, Hussein “knowingly facilitated terrorist activity by posting an ISIS recruitment video to TikTok.”
Among the comments Hussein’s video generated was one user stating: “Beheading and killing infidel soldiers is permitted in combat. So is enslaving the kuffar (disbeliever) soldier women,” the prosecutor said.
An RCMP expert on extremism “determined that the video was produced by al-Risalah Media, an extremist supporting media front,” Brown told court.
LGBTQ+ community, United Conservative Party also targeted
Hussein also spoke of targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community.
On June 1, he posted in a chat on Snapchat: “Tomorrow my mission begins. It’s pride month. I’ve been waiting,” Brown said.
“The accused then referenced two different types of explosive devices.”
Eight days later, Hussein shared a video to a group chat “of men being thrown off buildings and then being stoned. The video contained extremist ideological interpretations that encouraged the killing of gay men.”
Hussein also posted other ISIS videos, including ones showing mass executions and beheadings, Brown said.
Hussein also showed his wrath toward the United Conservative Party, replying to a March 2 automated message asking for his support by saying: “I’m gonna do a terrorist attack on you guys.”
Apparently undeterred, the party sent another automated message a month later asking if they could put up a sign at his home.
“He replied, ‘I’ll blow you guys up with explosives,’ ” Brown said.
At Hepner’s request, Van Harten ordered a psychiatric risk assessment on the offender at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre.
Hepner asked the judge to recommend the assessment be conducted by psychologist Dr. Patrick Baillie.
A date for sentencing submissions will be set Dec. 19.
Hussein remains in custody pending resolution to the case.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
Calgary ISIS supporter pleads guilty on terrorism charge, had bomb-making instructions, court told
Calgarian Zakarya Rida Hussein, who pleaded guilty Friday to a terrorism charged linked to support for ISIS, had bomb-making instructions.
Because we haven't given them their $10 million dollars yet.
Yup & the LGBT er al support these monsters. How fitting!Calgary ISIS supporter pleads guilty to terrorism charge, had bomb-making instructions, court told
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Dec 01, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Mounties investigating a Calgary terrorism suspect found handwritten instructions in his bedroom on how to make a bomb, court heard Friday.
Zakarya Rida Hussein, 20, pleaded guilty in Calgary Court of Justice to a charge of facilitating a terrorist activity.
Crown prosecutor Kent Brown, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told Justice Harry Van Harten that following Hussein’s arrest last June 15, police conducted a search of his home and vehicle.
Among the items seized, Brown said, was a “notebook containing handwritten notes with step-by-step instructions for making an improvised explosive device.”
Brown said investigators then consulted with the RCMP explosive disposal unit and the trace evidence chemistry group of RCMP National Forensic Laboratory Services.
That consultation “determined that the handwritten instructions located in the accused’s room appeared to be a viable and accurate means for the creation of a homemade explosive, as was the description in the instructions to fabricate a detonator,” Brown said.
The agreed facts, signed by Hussein and defence counsel Alain Hepner, also noted the offender “used his Telegram account to send an unknown user an ISIS video that explained how to make a bomb at home.
“The user responded asking about the size of the explosion and the accused said it was like a grenade. The instructions in the ISIS video matched the handwritten instructions that were seized from the accused’s bedroom.”
Brown also told Van Harten that on May 14, Hussein “knowingly facilitated terrorist activity by posting an ISIS recruitment video to TikTok.”
Among the comments Hussein’s video generated was one user stating: “Beheading and killing infidel soldiers is permitted in combat. So is enslaving the kuffar (disbeliever) soldier women,” the prosecutor said.
An RCMP expert on extremism “determined that the video was produced by al-Risalah Media, an extremist supporting media front,” Brown told court.
LGBTQ+ community, United Conservative Party also targeted
Hussein also spoke of targeting members of the LGBTQ+ community.
On June 1, he posted in a chat on Snapchat: “Tomorrow my mission begins. It’s pride month. I’ve been waiting,” Brown said.
“The accused then referenced two different types of explosive devices.”
Eight days later, Hussein shared a video to a group chat “of men being thrown off buildings and then being stoned. The video contained extremist ideological interpretations that encouraged the killing of gay men.”
Hussein also posted other ISIS videos, including ones showing mass executions and beheadings, Brown said.
Hussein also showed his wrath toward the United Conservative Party, replying to a March 2 automated message asking for his support by saying: “I’m gonna do a terrorist attack on you guys.”
Apparently undeterred, the party sent another automated message a month later asking if they could put up a sign at his home.
“He replied, ‘I’ll blow you guys up with explosives,’ ” Brown said.
At Hepner’s request, Van Harten ordered a psychiatric risk assessment on the offender at the Southern Alberta Forensic Psychiatry Centre.
Hepner asked the judge to recommend the assessment be conducted by psychologist Dr. Patrick Baillie.
A date for sentencing submissions will be set Dec. 19.
Hussein remains in custody pending resolution to the case.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
Calgary ISIS supporter pleads guilty on terrorism charge, had bomb-making instructions, court told
Calgarian Zakarya Rida Hussein, who pleaded guilty Friday to a terrorism charged linked to support for ISIS, had bomb-making instructions.
IS bride stuck in Syrian refugee camp loses her appeal over the removal of her U.K. citizenship
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Pan Pylas
Published Feb 23, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
LONDON — A woman who travelled to Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State group lost her appeal Friday against the British government’s decision to revoke her U.K. citizenship, with judges saying that it wasn’t for them to rule on whether it was “harsh” to do so.
Shamima Begum, who is now 24, was 15 when she and two other girls fled from London in February 2015 to marry IS fighters in Syria at a time when the group’s online recruitment program lured many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed caliphate. Begum married a Dutch man fighting for IS and had three children, who all died.
Authorities withdrew her British citizenship soon after she surfaced in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, where she has been ever since. Last year, Begum lost her appeal against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a tribunal which hears challenges to decisions to remove British citizenship on national security grounds.
Her lawyers brought a further bid to overturn that decision at the Court of Appeal, with Britain’s Home Office opposing the challenge.
All three judges dismissed her case and argued she had made a “calculated” decision to join IS even though she may have been “influenced and manipulated by others.”
In relaying the ruling, Chief Justice Sue Carr said it wasn’t the court’s job to decide whether the decision to strip Begum of her British citizenship was “harsh” or whether she was the “author of her own misfortune.”
She said the court’s sole task was to assess whether the decision to strip Begum of her citizenship was unlawful.
“Since it was not, Ms. Begum’s appeal is dismissed,” the judge added.
Carr said any arguments over the consequences of the unanimous judgment, which could include a bid to appeal at Britain’s Supreme Court, will be adjourned for seven days.
Begum’s lawyer indicated that a further challenge was on the cards.
“I think the only thing we can really say for certainty is that we are going to keep fighting,” Daniel Furner said outside the Royal Courts of Justice.
“I want to say that I’m sorry to Shamima and to her family that after five years of fighting she still hasn’t received justice in a British court and to promise her and promise the government that we are not going to stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home,” he added.
Begum’s legal team argued that the decision by Britain’s then interior minister Sajid Javid, left her stateless and that she should have been treated as a child trafficking victim, not a security risk.
Javid said he welcomed the ruling which “upheld” his decision.
“This is a complex case but home secretaries should have the power to prevent anyone entering our country who is assessed to pose a threat to it,” he said.
Britain’s Conservative government claimed she could seek a Bangladeshi passport based on family ties. But Begum’s family argued that she was from the U.K. and never held a Bangladeshi passport.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government will “always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and we never take decisions around deprivation (of citizenship) lightly.”
A number of campaigners voiced their disappointment after the ruling and said the solution rests with the government shouldering its responsibility.
” It is now a political problem, and the government holds the key to solving it,” said Maya Foa, director of the Reprieve humans right campaign group. “If the government thinks that Shamima Begum has committed a crime, she should be prosecuted in a British court. Citizenship stripping is not the answer.”
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Pan Pylas
Published Feb 23, 2024 • Last updated 2 days ago • 3 minute read
LONDON — A woman who travelled to Syria as a teenager to join the Islamic State group lost her appeal Friday against the British government’s decision to revoke her U.K. citizenship, with judges saying that it wasn’t for them to rule on whether it was “harsh” to do so.
Shamima Begum, who is now 24, was 15 when she and two other girls fled from London in February 2015 to marry IS fighters in Syria at a time when the group’s online recruitment program lured many impressionable young people to its self-proclaimed caliphate. Begum married a Dutch man fighting for IS and had three children, who all died.
Authorities withdrew her British citizenship soon after she surfaced in a Syrian refugee camp in 2019, where she has been ever since. Last year, Begum lost her appeal against the decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a tribunal which hears challenges to decisions to remove British citizenship on national security grounds.
Her lawyers brought a further bid to overturn that decision at the Court of Appeal, with Britain’s Home Office opposing the challenge.
All three judges dismissed her case and argued she had made a “calculated” decision to join IS even though she may have been “influenced and manipulated by others.”
In relaying the ruling, Chief Justice Sue Carr said it wasn’t the court’s job to decide whether the decision to strip Begum of her British citizenship was “harsh” or whether she was the “author of her own misfortune.”
She said the court’s sole task was to assess whether the decision to strip Begum of her citizenship was unlawful.
“Since it was not, Ms. Begum’s appeal is dismissed,” the judge added.
Carr said any arguments over the consequences of the unanimous judgment, which could include a bid to appeal at Britain’s Supreme Court, will be adjourned for seven days.
Begum’s lawyer indicated that a further challenge was on the cards.
“I think the only thing we can really say for certainty is that we are going to keep fighting,” Daniel Furner said outside the Royal Courts of Justice.
“I want to say that I’m sorry to Shamima and to her family that after five years of fighting she still hasn’t received justice in a British court and to promise her and promise the government that we are not going to stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home,” he added.
Begum’s legal team argued that the decision by Britain’s then interior minister Sajid Javid, left her stateless and that she should have been treated as a child trafficking victim, not a security risk.
Javid said he welcomed the ruling which “upheld” his decision.
“This is a complex case but home secretaries should have the power to prevent anyone entering our country who is assessed to pose a threat to it,” he said.
Britain’s Conservative government claimed she could seek a Bangladeshi passport based on family ties. But Begum’s family argued that she was from the U.K. and never held a Bangladeshi passport.
A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government will “always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and we never take decisions around deprivation (of citizenship) lightly.”
A number of campaigners voiced their disappointment after the ruling and said the solution rests with the government shouldering its responsibility.
” It is now a political problem, and the government holds the key to solving it,” said Maya Foa, director of the Reprieve humans right campaign group. “If the government thinks that Shamima Begum has committed a crime, she should be prosecuted in a British court. Citizenship stripping is not the answer.”
IS bride stuck in Syrian refugee camp loses her appeal over the removal of her U.K. citizenship
A woman who travelled to Syria as a teen to join the Islamic State lost her appeal Friday against the British government.
Lawyer for Calgary terrorism suspect wants charges thrown out because of unreasonable delay
Jamal Borhot's charges involve allegations he went to Syria to aid ISIS
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Apr 02, 2024 • 2 minute read
The more than 3½ years it will take to get Calgary terrorism suspect Jamal Borhot to trial amounts to an unreasonable delay in breach of his Charter rights, his lawyer says.
Defence counsel Pawel Milczarek has filed a notice of motion seeking a judicial stay of Borhot’s charges involving allegations he went to Syria to aid ISIS.
In it, Milczarek said none of the three years, eight months and eight days it will take to conclude his client’s prosecution can be attributed to the defence.
As a result, he says in his written material, the only option for Justice Corina Dario is to enter a judicial stay of Borhot’s charges, ending his prosecution.
Under the Supreme Court’s decision in the Jordan case, the nation’s top court said any trials which conclude more than 30 months after a person is charged are presumptively unreasonably delayed.
Short of delays caused by the defence or extraordinary circumstances causing the case to last longer, trials exceeding the 30-month period will result in an accused person’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable amount of time to be violated.
Milczarek, in his written application, said despite Borhot having two prior lawyers who withdrew from the case, all of the delay in the proceedings is as a result of court or prosecutorial delay.
Much of the period of time it has taken to get the case to trial in Calgary Court of King’s Bench involved several motions which had to be dealt with in the Federal Court and commenced by the Attorney General of Canada.
Milczarek said both the federal attorney general’s department and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada lawyers handling Borhot’s prosecution should be held accountable for the lengthy delay.
He said prior cases involving allegations of terrorism activity should have provided both with a road map for conducting his client’s case in a timely fashion.
“In the present case, the evidence available to the defence suggest that neither the PPSC nor the AGC conducted themselves pursuant to the lessons learned from the Air India Inquiry or more recent terrorism prosecutions, such as the case of the Toronto 18,” he said.
“Both … have identified the need for procedural reforms to terrorism prosecutions.”
Milczarek will make oral arguments on the application when Borhot’s six-week trial commences on April 15.
Borhot, 34, faces three charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. He is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 and 2014 to assist ISIS.
He was originally arrested in September 2020, and has been on strict bail for most of that time.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
torontosun.com
Jamal Borhot's charges involve allegations he went to Syria to aid ISIS
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Apr 02, 2024 • 2 minute read
The more than 3½ years it will take to get Calgary terrorism suspect Jamal Borhot to trial amounts to an unreasonable delay in breach of his Charter rights, his lawyer says.
Defence counsel Pawel Milczarek has filed a notice of motion seeking a judicial stay of Borhot’s charges involving allegations he went to Syria to aid ISIS.
In it, Milczarek said none of the three years, eight months and eight days it will take to conclude his client’s prosecution can be attributed to the defence.
As a result, he says in his written material, the only option for Justice Corina Dario is to enter a judicial stay of Borhot’s charges, ending his prosecution.
Under the Supreme Court’s decision in the Jordan case, the nation’s top court said any trials which conclude more than 30 months after a person is charged are presumptively unreasonably delayed.
Short of delays caused by the defence or extraordinary circumstances causing the case to last longer, trials exceeding the 30-month period will result in an accused person’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable amount of time to be violated.
Milczarek, in his written application, said despite Borhot having two prior lawyers who withdrew from the case, all of the delay in the proceedings is as a result of court or prosecutorial delay.
Much of the period of time it has taken to get the case to trial in Calgary Court of King’s Bench involved several motions which had to be dealt with in the Federal Court and commenced by the Attorney General of Canada.
Milczarek said both the federal attorney general’s department and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada lawyers handling Borhot’s prosecution should be held accountable for the lengthy delay.
He said prior cases involving allegations of terrorism activity should have provided both with a road map for conducting his client’s case in a timely fashion.
“In the present case, the evidence available to the defence suggest that neither the PPSC nor the AGC conducted themselves pursuant to the lessons learned from the Air India Inquiry or more recent terrorism prosecutions, such as the case of the Toronto 18,” he said.
“Both … have identified the need for procedural reforms to terrorism prosecutions.”
Milczarek will make oral arguments on the application when Borhot’s six-week trial commences on April 15.
Borhot, 34, faces three charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. He is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 and 2014 to assist ISIS.
He was originally arrested in September 2020, and has been on strict bail for most of that time.
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: @KMartinCourts
Lawyer for Calgary terrorism suspect wants charges thrown out because of unreasonable delay
Lawyer for Calgary terrorism suspect Jamal Borhot wants his charges stayed based on unreasonable delay.
Teen arrested day before he planned to attack churches in name of ISIS, feds say
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Ben Brasch
Published Apr 10, 2024 • 5 minute read
Idaho-Teen-Terrorism-Charge
The criminal complaint against Alexander Scott Mercurio is photographed on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Mercurio, 18, is charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group after prosecutors said he planned to carry out an attack on a Coeur d'Alene church. Mercurio was arrested Saturday, and the charges were unsealed in Idaho's U.S. District Court on Monday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
After months of planning, federal officials say, 18-year-old Alexander Scott Mercurio was just a few days away from executing an attack on American soil in the name of the Islamic State militant group.
Mercurio detailed his plot to a man in a hotel, according to court documents: The Idaho teen said he would walk to a church from his home in Coeur d’Alene, kneecap churchgoers with a metal pipe, kill them with a knife, set off fires using small butane canisters and then try to wrestle a gun away from an officer once police arrived. He said he was committed to slaying as many people as he could before dying through suicide or an encounter with law enforcement.
What he didn’t know is that the person he was talking to was an FBI informant.
Mercurio was arrested Saturday and charged in District of Idaho federal court with providing support to a terrorist organization. No attorney was listed for him in the federal courts system. He remained in the Kootenai County jail in Coeur d’Alene as of Tuesday afternoon, according to records.
“Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI, the defendant was taken into custody before he could act, and he is now charged with attempting to support ISIS’s mission of terror and violence,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release.
The Islamist militant group, also referred to as ISIS or ISIL, is a former al-Qaeda affiliate. About a decade ago, the Islamic State declared the establishment of a caliphate over swaths of Syria and Iraq. Since then, it has lost control of much of the territory.
Mercurio told an FBI informant that he started diving into Islamic State ideology while schools were closed during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Idaho-based FBI agent John H. Taylor II wrote in the criminal complaint. Mercurio said that his parents were not happy and that he had to hide his beliefs from them. He added that he previously “drank the Kool-Aid” of white supremacy but turned to the Islamic State after deciding it had more purpose for him.
“This case should be an eye-opener to the dangers of self-radicalization, which is a real threat to our communities,” Shohini Sinha, head of the FBI in Salt Lake City, said in a statement.
The FBI was investigating a network that launders money for the militant group when agents came across Mercurio. Taylor wrote that Mercurio and others who were not named in the complaint had been raising money for the Islamic State, including through cryptocurrency.
Agents came into contact with Mercurio in 2022, connecting with him through a profile they had created with the same username as an Islamic State fundraiser who had deleted their account. The teen believed he was chatting with the fundraiser and spoke with FBI sources for months.
He described having suicidal ideations, at times wavering over how far he wanted to take his new extremist beliefs. In December, he wrote that he was upset with himself for sinning, adding: “I’ve stopped asking and praying for martyrdom because I don’t feel like I want to fight and die for the sake of Allah, I just want to die and have all my problems go away.”
The situation escalated early this year, officials said, when Mercurio said he planned to carry out a suicide attack against at least one church. At one point, he spoke about making a flaming sword. He also described “some kind of insatiable bloodlust for the life of these idolaters; a craving for mayhem and murder to terrorize those around me.”
In February, he said he had the “tools” he needed, “but I still waver because I am attached to the worldly life.”
He continued: “Perhaps it is a sign of insincerity that I prefer to carry out a successful attack to perhaps gain fame and notoriety … or that I fear the blame of the blamers and hate for them to slander me in the media, and call me a mentally ill psycho who did this out of desperation and delusion and not as an act of religiously motivated terrorism.”
Days later, Mercurio met with another FBI source in Coeur d’Alene. He said his family “oppresses” him, the agent wrote. He told the informant that his parents were unhappy with his path. He was frustrated he couldn’t access his father’s guns, he said, because his father was home frequently because of a work injury.
During another meeting a couple of months later, on April 2, Mercurio said he thought about killing his father or hitting him with a pipe and handcuffing him. That way, he could get access to his father’s firearm collection, which included an AR-15, Taylor wrote.
Mercurio settled on attacking a specific church on April 7. The agent said Mercurio chose that date because it was before the end of Ramadan, which Mercurio had referred to as “the month of conquests.”
Mercurio wrote that he would send a video pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and delete his social media before he would “burn the temple to the ground and flee,” then “rinse and repeat for all 21+ churches in the town until killed.” He sent the 20-second statement on April 6 and was arrested the same day, authorities said.
Law enforcement raided his home about 12:45 p.m. and found the items he had promised to use – the butane canisters and pipe, handcuffs, a knife and a machete – along with several of the father’s guns, Taylor wrote. Agents also found an Islamic State flag in Mercurio’s bedroom.
Agents searched his school-issued laptop and found audio files of iihadi chants, Taylor wrote. Law enforcement also found 50 files, mostly audio files of chants and songs, celebrating the conquests of the Islamic State and the need for jihad.
“The defendant allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS and sought to attack people attending churches in Idaho, a truly horrific plan which was detected and thwarted,” FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said in a statement. “This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s steadfast commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to stop those who wish to commit acts of violence on behalf of – or inspired by – foreign terrorist groups.”
Mercurio faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, according to authorities.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Ben Brasch
Published Apr 10, 2024 • 5 minute read
Idaho-Teen-Terrorism-Charge
The criminal complaint against Alexander Scott Mercurio is photographed on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Mercurio, 18, is charged with attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group after prosecutors said he planned to carry out an attack on a Coeur d'Alene church. Mercurio was arrested Saturday, and the charges were unsealed in Idaho's U.S. District Court on Monday. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)
After months of planning, federal officials say, 18-year-old Alexander Scott Mercurio was just a few days away from executing an attack on American soil in the name of the Islamic State militant group.
Mercurio detailed his plot to a man in a hotel, according to court documents: The Idaho teen said he would walk to a church from his home in Coeur d’Alene, kneecap churchgoers with a metal pipe, kill them with a knife, set off fires using small butane canisters and then try to wrestle a gun away from an officer once police arrived. He said he was committed to slaying as many people as he could before dying through suicide or an encounter with law enforcement.
What he didn’t know is that the person he was talking to was an FBI informant.
Mercurio was arrested Saturday and charged in District of Idaho federal court with providing support to a terrorist organization. No attorney was listed for him in the federal courts system. He remained in the Kootenai County jail in Coeur d’Alene as of Tuesday afternoon, according to records.
“Thanks to the investigative efforts of the FBI, the defendant was taken into custody before he could act, and he is now charged with attempting to support ISIS’s mission of terror and violence,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release.
The Islamist militant group, also referred to as ISIS or ISIL, is a former al-Qaeda affiliate. About a decade ago, the Islamic State declared the establishment of a caliphate over swaths of Syria and Iraq. Since then, it has lost control of much of the territory.
Mercurio told an FBI informant that he started diving into Islamic State ideology while schools were closed during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Idaho-based FBI agent John H. Taylor II wrote in the criminal complaint. Mercurio said that his parents were not happy and that he had to hide his beliefs from them. He added that he previously “drank the Kool-Aid” of white supremacy but turned to the Islamic State after deciding it had more purpose for him.
“This case should be an eye-opener to the dangers of self-radicalization, which is a real threat to our communities,” Shohini Sinha, head of the FBI in Salt Lake City, said in a statement.
The FBI was investigating a network that launders money for the militant group when agents came across Mercurio. Taylor wrote that Mercurio and others who were not named in the complaint had been raising money for the Islamic State, including through cryptocurrency.
Agents came into contact with Mercurio in 2022, connecting with him through a profile they had created with the same username as an Islamic State fundraiser who had deleted their account. The teen believed he was chatting with the fundraiser and spoke with FBI sources for months.
He described having suicidal ideations, at times wavering over how far he wanted to take his new extremist beliefs. In December, he wrote that he was upset with himself for sinning, adding: “I’ve stopped asking and praying for martyrdom because I don’t feel like I want to fight and die for the sake of Allah, I just want to die and have all my problems go away.”
The situation escalated early this year, officials said, when Mercurio said he planned to carry out a suicide attack against at least one church. At one point, he spoke about making a flaming sword. He also described “some kind of insatiable bloodlust for the life of these idolaters; a craving for mayhem and murder to terrorize those around me.”
In February, he said he had the “tools” he needed, “but I still waver because I am attached to the worldly life.”
He continued: “Perhaps it is a sign of insincerity that I prefer to carry out a successful attack to perhaps gain fame and notoriety … or that I fear the blame of the blamers and hate for them to slander me in the media, and call me a mentally ill psycho who did this out of desperation and delusion and not as an act of religiously motivated terrorism.”
Days later, Mercurio met with another FBI source in Coeur d’Alene. He said his family “oppresses” him, the agent wrote. He told the informant that his parents were unhappy with his path. He was frustrated he couldn’t access his father’s guns, he said, because his father was home frequently because of a work injury.
During another meeting a couple of months later, on April 2, Mercurio said he thought about killing his father or hitting him with a pipe and handcuffing him. That way, he could get access to his father’s firearm collection, which included an AR-15, Taylor wrote.
Mercurio settled on attacking a specific church on April 7. The agent said Mercurio chose that date because it was before the end of Ramadan, which Mercurio had referred to as “the month of conquests.”
Mercurio wrote that he would send a video pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and delete his social media before he would “burn the temple to the ground and flee,” then “rinse and repeat for all 21+ churches in the town until killed.” He sent the 20-second statement on April 6 and was arrested the same day, authorities said.
Law enforcement raided his home about 12:45 p.m. and found the items he had promised to use – the butane canisters and pipe, handcuffs, a knife and a machete – along with several of the father’s guns, Taylor wrote. Agents also found an Islamic State flag in Mercurio’s bedroom.
Agents searched his school-issued laptop and found audio files of iihadi chants, Taylor wrote. Law enforcement also found 50 files, mostly audio files of chants and songs, celebrating the conquests of the Islamic State and the need for jihad.
“The defendant allegedly pledged loyalty to ISIS and sought to attack people attending churches in Idaho, a truly horrific plan which was detected and thwarted,” FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said in a statement. “This investigation demonstrates the FBI’s steadfast commitment to work with our law enforcement partners to stop those who wish to commit acts of violence on behalf of – or inspired by – foreign terrorist groups.”
Mercurio faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison if convicted, according to authorities.
Teen arrested day before he planned to attack churches in name of ISIS, feds say
18-year-old Alexander Scott Mercurio was just a few days away from executing an attack on American soil in the name of the Islamic State.
Calgary terrorism suspect right to a speedy trial not violated, judge rules
Borhot, 34, is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 and 2014 to assist ISIS
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Apr 22, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary.
Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary.
Calgary terrorism suspect Jamal Borhot has not been the victim of an unreasonable delay in his prosecution, a judge ruled Monday in determining his trial will proceed.
Justice Corina Dario said that after a review of Crown and defence submissions, she determined Borhot’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable amount of time was not violated.
Defence counsel Pawel Milczarek had argued Borhot was entitled to have his charges thrown out based on the more than 44 months that will have elapsed from the time he was charged until the scheduled conclusion of his trial at the end of next month.
But prosecutors argued much of that time period was attributed to defence delays, including the fact Borhot is now on his third lawyer.
Crown lawyer Dominic Puglia also argued the case was complex, which would mean delays over the ceiling established by the Supreme Court would not violate the accused’s constitutional right.
“Upon a review of submissions by counsel . . . I am satisfied that Mr. Borhot’s 11(b) rights have not been violated,” Dario said, citing the Charter section that guarantees an individual the right to be tried in a timely fashion.
The Court of King’s Bench judge said she will issue a more thorough decision, likely later this week.
Borhot, 34, faces three charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. He is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 and 2014 to assist ISIS.
He was arrested in September 2020 after a lengthy RCMP investigation.
His cousin, Hussein Borhot, was arrested several months earlier and was handed a 12-year sentence in May 2022, after admitting becoming an ISIS fighter while in the Middle East.
Milczarek, in both written and oral submissions, had argued Dario should enter a judicial stay of his client’s charges based on the length of time it took to get the case to trial.
Under the Jordan ruling, the Supreme Court found delays in excess of 30 months from the date of arrest to the end of trial are presumptively a violation of an accused’s Charter right short of exceptional circumstances.
Those include delays attributable to the defence.
Milczarek had argued nothing the defence had done caused his client’s case to be before the courts for so long, suggesting conduct by the Crown over issues such as disclosure was to blame.
In their written brief, Puglia and co-prosecutor Kyra Kondro said the nature of the case alone justified a lengthier period.
“This is a complex case,” they wrote.
“Terrorism prosecutions and the terrorism provisions of . . . the Criminal Code have consistently been referred to as complicated.”
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: KMartinCourts
torontosun.com
Borhot, 34, is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 and 2014 to assist ISIS
Author of the article:Kevin Martin
Published Apr 22, 2024 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary.
Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary.
Calgary terrorism suspect Jamal Borhot has not been the victim of an unreasonable delay in his prosecution, a judge ruled Monday in determining his trial will proceed.
Justice Corina Dario said that after a review of Crown and defence submissions, she determined Borhot’s Charter right to be tried within a reasonable amount of time was not violated.
Defence counsel Pawel Milczarek had argued Borhot was entitled to have his charges thrown out based on the more than 44 months that will have elapsed from the time he was charged until the scheduled conclusion of his trial at the end of next month.
But prosecutors argued much of that time period was attributed to defence delays, including the fact Borhot is now on his third lawyer.
Crown lawyer Dominic Puglia also argued the case was complex, which would mean delays over the ceiling established by the Supreme Court would not violate the accused’s constitutional right.
“Upon a review of submissions by counsel . . . I am satisfied that Mr. Borhot’s 11(b) rights have not been violated,” Dario said, citing the Charter section that guarantees an individual the right to be tried in a timely fashion.
The Court of King’s Bench judge said she will issue a more thorough decision, likely later this week.
Borhot, 34, faces three charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. He is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 and 2014 to assist ISIS.
He was arrested in September 2020 after a lengthy RCMP investigation.
His cousin, Hussein Borhot, was arrested several months earlier and was handed a 12-year sentence in May 2022, after admitting becoming an ISIS fighter while in the Middle East.
Milczarek, in both written and oral submissions, had argued Dario should enter a judicial stay of his client’s charges based on the length of time it took to get the case to trial.
Under the Jordan ruling, the Supreme Court found delays in excess of 30 months from the date of arrest to the end of trial are presumptively a violation of an accused’s Charter right short of exceptional circumstances.
Those include delays attributable to the defence.
Milczarek had argued nothing the defence had done caused his client’s case to be before the courts for so long, suggesting conduct by the Crown over issues such as disclosure was to blame.
In their written brief, Puglia and co-prosecutor Kyra Kondro said the nature of the case alone justified a lengthier period.
“This is a complex case,” they wrote.
“Terrorism prosecutions and the terrorism provisions of . . . the Criminal Code have consistently been referred to as complicated.”
KMartin@postmedia.com
X: KMartinCourts
Calgary terrorism suspect right to a speedy trial not violated, judge rules
Calgary terrorism suspect Jamal Borhot has not been the victim of an unreasonable delay in his prosecution, judge rules Monday.