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| Great White North |
| Canada set to release terror suspect on bail |
| 2007-03-08 |
| A Canadian judge has signaled her intention to free Mahmoud Jaballah, a man Canadian authorities believe helped relay communications between cells responsible for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa. "The Federal Court judge (Carolyn Layden-Stevenson) yesterday indicated that she was prepared to release Mr. Jaballah from detention on strict terms and conditions," Jaballah's lawyer Barb Jackman said on Wednesday. Well, as long as they're strict about it... Jaballah was one of five foreign Muslims that Canada arrested between 2000 and 2003, with the intention of deporting them on suspicions of terrorism. Two others have already been freed on bail and a third will soon be released. For those who have been or are being released, the judges have determined that they can neutralize any threat to Canadian security by applying stringent restrictions, such as electronic ankle bracelets and government monitoring of phone calls. The Supreme Court handed down a decision last month that upheld the security certificates under which the men have been held, but said that it was unconstitutional for them to be detained indefinitely without trial on the basis of secret evidence. Independently of the Supreme Court decision, however, Judge Layden-Stevenson had already been preparing the ground for releasing Jaballah. "I think she's certainly conscious of the judicial trend of releasing the men," said Matthew Behrens, an activist with the group Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada, who has fought the security certificates. Jaballah, an Egyptian who taught in a Toronto Muslim school, was arrested two weeks before the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The government told the courts it believed he had engaged in terrorism in Egypt, including serving as a relay between cells of the Egyptian group Al Jihad, particularly those that engaged in the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in August 1998. It also said he had been associated with numerous participants of terrorist groups. The Federal Court ruled last October that "a reasonable observer would find grounds to believe that he was, or is, a member of a terrorist group, and of the AJ (Al Jihad)," but that he should not be deported to Egypt lest he be tortured. Jaballah, who denies the accusations against him, is free to leave Canada at any time but he says he was tortured in Egypt before he arrived in Canada in 1996. Lawyers for Jaballah and the government will return to court on March 22 to go over conditions under which he would be released. Jackman said that Layden-Stevenson had signaled her intention now so that initial steps could be taken, such as checking the Jaballah home for electronic monitoring. |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #3 Judicial trends always trump security threats. Fashion is more important than safety. |
| Posted by: john 2007-03-08 16:49 |
| #2 I wish, just once, one of these ratba$$$$ds would show his true colors, and frag the judge that released him. I'm sure that would put a stop to releasing jihadis in Canada, and MIGHT wake up a judge or two in the US of A. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-03-08 15:14 |
| #1 Honest to shit why aren't these terrorist being hung?! |
| Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-08 15:09 |