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The trial of alleged terrorist conspirator Misbahuddin Ahmed entered its final stages Monday with defence lawyer Mark Ertel telling the jury that prosecutors have failed to prove their case.
Ertel portrayed Ahmed as an intellectually curious man whose demeanour was consistent during his 10 days on the witness stand and who answered questions truthfully even when the answers were personally detrimental.
“This is the hallmark of a credible witness,” he said.
Ahmed, a 30-year-old former diagnostic imaging technician at The Ottawa Hospital, has pleaded not guilty to three terrorism-related offences: conspiring to facilitate a terrorist activity, participating in the activities of a terrorist group, and possession of an explosive device.
The first two offences carry potential sentences of 14 years, and 10 years respectively. A conviction for possessing an explosive device carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
Ahmed, alleged co-conspirator Khurram Sher and another alleged co-conspirator whose identity is currently protected by a publication ban, were arrested in August 2010.
“There is no agreement, there is no group, there is no conspiracy,” said Ertel. “And nothing happened.”
The lawyer pointed to a late-night July 20, 2010 meeting when the three men met for dinner at Ahmed’s apartment and RCMP anti-terrorism officers secretly recorded their conversation.
Sher was passing through Ottawa on his way to London, Ont. from Montreal.
Ahmed and Sher were clearly not taking seriously the third man’s repeated suggestions that they form a group, said Ertel, and they became giddy with fatigue – electing a leader with the aid of a vacuum cleaner and laughing during a pledge.
“The Crown will tell you that they were planning to invite Sher to join a group,” Ertel told the jury. “But a group hadn’t been formed. He (Ahmed) never had the intention to do what he is accused of.”
While it was true that Ahmed possessed videos and other materials related to methods of terrorism, that isn’t a crime, added Ertel.
“We live in a country that values freedom,” he said.
It was also true that Ahmed and his alleged co-conspirators opposed Canadian involvement in Afghanistan, said Ertel, adding that you can’t label a Canadian citizen a terrorist simply because he opposes the use of taxpayers’ money to fight a war with which he disagrees.
During covert searches of the alleged co-conspirator’s tiny west-end apartment, RCMP anti-terrorist officers found circuit boards and other components in a shopping bag.
Officers found the same bag and its contents at Ahmed’s home after he was arrested in August 2010.
Ahmed testified that he insisted that his alleged accomplice give them to him to destroy but he hadn’t got round to doing so.
There is no evidence that Ahmed touched the contents of the bag, said Ertel, and no evidence that he intended to use them for a dangerous purpose.
(Police found none of Ahmed’s fingerprints on the bag and its contents).
Another key issue in the trial is whether Ahmed knew that money he collected and donated went to fund terrorism.
He admits to donating the money but testified that it was a charitable donation always intended to aid the poor and needy in Kurdistan.
Crown prosecutors have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ahmed knew the money was going to terrorists, added Ertel.
The trial continues
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/chrisicobb
查看原文...
Ertel portrayed Ahmed as an intellectually curious man whose demeanour was consistent during his 10 days on the witness stand and who answered questions truthfully even when the answers were personally detrimental.
“This is the hallmark of a credible witness,” he said.
Ahmed, a 30-year-old former diagnostic imaging technician at The Ottawa Hospital, has pleaded not guilty to three terrorism-related offences: conspiring to facilitate a terrorist activity, participating in the activities of a terrorist group, and possession of an explosive device.
The first two offences carry potential sentences of 14 years, and 10 years respectively. A conviction for possessing an explosive device carries a sentence of life imprisonment.
Ahmed, alleged co-conspirator Khurram Sher and another alleged co-conspirator whose identity is currently protected by a publication ban, were arrested in August 2010.
“There is no agreement, there is no group, there is no conspiracy,” said Ertel. “And nothing happened.”
The lawyer pointed to a late-night July 20, 2010 meeting when the three men met for dinner at Ahmed’s apartment and RCMP anti-terrorism officers secretly recorded their conversation.
Sher was passing through Ottawa on his way to London, Ont. from Montreal.
Ahmed and Sher were clearly not taking seriously the third man’s repeated suggestions that they form a group, said Ertel, and they became giddy with fatigue – electing a leader with the aid of a vacuum cleaner and laughing during a pledge.
“The Crown will tell you that they were planning to invite Sher to join a group,” Ertel told the jury. “But a group hadn’t been formed. He (Ahmed) never had the intention to do what he is accused of.”
While it was true that Ahmed possessed videos and other materials related to methods of terrorism, that isn’t a crime, added Ertel.
“We live in a country that values freedom,” he said.
It was also true that Ahmed and his alleged co-conspirators opposed Canadian involvement in Afghanistan, said Ertel, adding that you can’t label a Canadian citizen a terrorist simply because he opposes the use of taxpayers’ money to fight a war with which he disagrees.
During covert searches of the alleged co-conspirator’s tiny west-end apartment, RCMP anti-terrorist officers found circuit boards and other components in a shopping bag.
Officers found the same bag and its contents at Ahmed’s home after he was arrested in August 2010.
Ahmed testified that he insisted that his alleged accomplice give them to him to destroy but he hadn’t got round to doing so.
There is no evidence that Ahmed touched the contents of the bag, said Ertel, and no evidence that he intended to use them for a dangerous purpose.
(Police found none of Ahmed’s fingerprints on the bag and its contents).
Another key issue in the trial is whether Ahmed knew that money he collected and donated went to fund terrorism.
He admits to donating the money but testified that it was a charitable donation always intended to aid the poor and needy in Kurdistan.
Crown prosecutors have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ahmed knew the money was going to terrorists, added Ertel.
The trial continues
ccobb@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/chrisicobb
查看原文...
