Revoking convicted terrorists’ citizenship to be challenged

A controversial law that the federal government is using to revoke citizenship from people linked to terrorism will be challenged in court, says a lawyer who represents one of the Toronto 18.

Bill C-24, also known as the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, was passed last June.

So far, half a dozen people are believed to have received letters from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, according to lawyer John Norris who represents one of the Toronto 18 members, Asad Ansari.

One of those letters, to Zakaria Amara — considered the mastermind behind the Toronto 18 group — was to fully revoke his Canadian citizenship, while the others. including Ansari, originally from Pakistan, were informed that they were being considered.

Jason Kenney, Canada’s Minister of National Defence, took to Twitter to respond to the reports.

The Toronto 18 group was accused of planning attacks on Canadian sites like the parliamentary buildings in Ottawa.

Amara was sentenced to life in prison in 2010, with no chance of parole until 2016 after confessing his plans to attack sites around Toronto. He reportedly had his citizenship revoked after receiving a letter in June.

“Theoretically, he could challenge this decision in Federal Court,” Norris told Yahoo Canada News.

Meanwhile, the others have received similar letters from the department, stating that their citizenships were being considered for revocation.

“The recourse that’s available to him and the others is to challenge the constitutionality of this power to revoke citizenship in the first place,” he says. “We’ve basically tried to stop the process while we go to court to challenge (this).”

Ansari was convicted of participating in the Toronto 18, and was released in 2010 with time served. He currently lives in the Toronto area under no conditions.

Two others who are reported to have received letters include:

-Mohamed Hersi, who was convicted in 2014 of attempting to join al-Shabab, an extremist group based in Somalia.

-Hiva Mohamme Alizadeh, who pleaded guilty to a terror plot in 2014.

Calls to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration were not immediately returned.