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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Suspect's emergence Muslims' 'nightmare'

'Heightened fears, rampant suspicion': local leader

By: Carol Sanders

Posted: 08/28/2010 1:00 AM

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Saira Rahman's documentary reflected the modern Canadian Muslim experience. (KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS )

Primer on terrorism crimes in Canada

The latest charges: Three terror suspects arrested this week in Ontario are charged under the 2001 Anti-terrorism Act with plotting to "knowingly facilitate terrorist activities" in Canada and abroad, punishable by a maximum 14 years' imprisonment upon conviction. The conspiracy allegedly played out in Canada, Iran, Afghanistan, Dubai and Pakistan. Police say they seized educational literature and more than 50 circuits boards intended to remotely detonate bombs. One of the accused, Mohammad Alizadeh, also faces charges of making or possessing explosive devices for terrorist purposes and terrorist financing.

How Canadian law changed after 9/11: Three months after the terrorist attacks in the U.S., the federal government passed the Anti-terrorism Act, which specifically defined terrorism and made it a criminal offence. The wide changes to the Criminal Code were designed to provide police with new investigative powers to detect plots and prevent attacks, after the then-Liberal government decided prosecuting crimes after the fact did not adequately protect Canadian security. The law permitted authorities to pursue those who, through indirect acts, facilitated terrorist crimes.

The track record on prosecution: Prosecutors have had a solid track record in pursuing terror suspects in the nation's criminal courts in the last nine years. Eleven of the "Toronto 18" terror cell were convicted, as were all three of the other cases prosecuted under anti-terrorism legislation: Mohammed Khawaja, Said Namouth, and Prapaharan Thambithurai.

Maximum sentences: An Ottawa lawyer representing one of the three men arrested this week described the alleged crimes as "the most serious charges you can face except for a murder charge." Another lawyer said the men, if convicted, "could be put away for a long time." The crime of knowingly facilitating terrorist activities carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. However, other terrorism offences on the books, such as instructing someone to carry out a terrorist act, carry maximum terms of life in prison.

How judges treat terrorism cases: The courts have handed down a wide range of sentences, some of which have been the maximum allowable under law. The ring leader of the Toronto 18 received a term of life imprisonment last January after he pleaded guilty to participating in the activity of a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion that was likely to cause serious harm or death. On the other end of the spectrum, Prapaharan Thambithurai, described as a minor fundraiser for the Tamil Tigers, received a six-month sentence, instead of the legal maximum of 10 years, after pleading guilty in May to fundraising for a banned terrorist group.

The evolution of the justice system: Anti-terrorism experts say Canada has evolved in catching terrorists in recent years as a result of stiffer legislation, lessons learned at home and overseas, and better co-operation between police and intelligence services. For instance, the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, responsible for this week's arrests, was created by the Anti-terrorism Act.

-- Postmedia News

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The arrest of a terror suspect who once lived in Winnipeg is a local Islamic leader's "worst nightmare."

News that the alleged mastermind of a jihadist plot is from the city has rocked Manitoba's Muslim community, says Idris Elbakri, president of the Manitoba Islamic Association. The accused, Hiva Alizadeh, attended the MIA mosque in Winnipeg and worked at a popular Muslim grocery store before moving to Ottawa where he was charged Thursday. "Manitoba Muslims will be concerned about their personal associations with this person, and the overall stigma that will affect our community," Elbakri wrote in a letter to the Free Press.

"The presumption of innocence is no consolation in a time of heightened fears and rampant suspicion."

Alizadeh was implicated in a terrorist plot in Ottawa with three others. Elbakri said the former Winnipegger allegedly became involved in such activities after leaving Manitoba a year and a half ago.

Still, the Manitoba Muslim leader is calling on anyone with information that can help the authorities with their investigation to step forward.

"It is our religious and civic obligation. The Qur'an admonishes us that the murder of one innocent person is as morally abhorrent as the murder of all of humanity."

Getting people to open up to authorities could present a challenge, he said, when many Muslims who are newcomers bring "a culture of suspicion towards government and authority."

He reminded Manitobans not to judge all Muslims based on the alleged actions of a few.

But people will judge, as they always do when there's a Muslim in the media spotlight, said one observant Muslim woman who covers her head with a scarf -- a public sign of her faith.

"It's enough to make you want to take it off and blend into the crowd," said Saira Rahman, an independent Winnipeg filmmaker. Her documentary A New Life in a New Land, made in the wake of 9/11, explored the Canadian Muslim experience.

"It's so very frustrating," she said Friday about the arrest of a former Winnipeg Muslim. "It's very unfair -- you're demonizing communities again and creating a situation where everyone's guilty till proven innocent. Muslims aren't perfect but they and Islam certainly do not tolerate terrorism or conspiracy to terrorize... I don't know where they're getting that," she said of the incitement to terror.

"We're just as confused as the non-Muslim lay person," she said. "You don't know what's going on. It's very scary to us, too," she said. "If someone gets arrested for conspiring to do terrorist acts and happens to say they're Muslim, that scares us. Nothing in Islam tells them they have the right to do that. It's the opposite."

Elbakri admitted that Muslims themselves "have work to do."

"For far too long, we have followed a paradigm that emphasized building and establishing mosques, but has neglected to invest in human capital," he wrote. "Our youth are often integrated in their Canadian surrounding, but not into their own community of faith, leaving them prey to misdirected calls for jihad and liberation of the weak and oppressed."

And the community is doing the "work."

Friday night, about 60 young Muslim men and women were to take part in a forum organized during Ramadan at the Grand Mosque on Waverley Street to discuss the challenges facing them, Elbakri said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 28, 2010 A5

The Winnipeg Free Press is not accepting comments on this story for legal reasons.

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