Daily BrewWhy RCMP made a ‘preventive’ terrorism arrest of Ontario man
[CBC News]
The RCMP has made a “preventive” arrest of an Ontario man for the first time under the new provisions of the Fear of Terrorism measure in the Criminal Code.
Kevin Omar Mohamed, 23, was taken into custody by police on Friday and charged with possession and concealment of a weapon — a knife, according to his lawyer, Anser Farooq — but has not been charged with any terrorism-related offences.
Police say he was detained “pursuant to Section 810.011 [of the Criminal Code], Fear of Terrorism Offence.”
RCMP Supt. Lise Crouch, assistant criminal operations, said in a news release “there was no indication of any plans for a domestic attack” but that the service was “committed to preventing individuals from travelling abroad to gain training and expertise that could be used in the planning and implementation of future attacks on Canadian soil.”
The arrest in Waterloo, Ont., was part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation called Project SWAP, the Mounties said.
A member of Project SWAP testified to a provincial judge on Saturday that the investigation was looking into five anti-terrorism offences. The testimony, according to the National Post, alleges Mohamed had been in Syria in 2014 and that police feared he would leave the country again to either participate in or promote terrorism.
This type of arrest was made possible due to last year’s changes to the Criminal Code, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act under Bill C-51 — introduced by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. Bill C-51 passed into law early May 2015.
Canada’s anti-terrorism law has made it easier for authorities to apply the threat of terrorism to a wider definition and also permits agencies to collect and share information on individuals of interest.
Police can now preventatively arrest people without a warrant. Under changes to the Criminal Code made through C-51, a person can be arrested without a warrant if police merely believe that person may carry out terrorist attacks. Previously, arrests without warrants were only permitted if police believe that individual will carry out the attack.
Twitter posts
Mohamed had been posting tweets as Abu Jayyid, according to Amarnath Amarasingam, who studies counter-terrorism and Canadian foreign fighters at the University of Waterloo and Dalhousie University in Halifax. Amarasingam, who uncovered the link between the Jayyid handle and Mohamed through a mutual acquaintance, spoke to several news outlets about the Twitter account.
Amarasingam said he exchanged several messages with Abu Jayyid, who was supportive of the Syrian wing of al Qaida.
Abu Jayyid made a posting asking how to modify a popular and violent video game to be set to the scene of the Brussels airport, just two days after the March 22 attack that killed at least 31 people. Even so, the RCMP statement over the weekend said the arrest had nothing to do with that incident.
His lawyer Farooq told CBC News that the RCMP allege Mohamed encouraged and facilitated terrorist activity through social media.
Farooq will not confirm or deny that Mohamed’s Twitter handle was Abu Jayyid. He says the police are insisting his client sign a peace bond, which could contain conditions such as surrendering a passport and staying off the Internet. Farooq did not divulge details of the bond.
Mohamed remains in custody and is set to appear at a Brampton, Ont., court on Tuesday morning.
Liberal promise to repeal parts of terror law
When Bill C-51 was introduced last year, it was met with howls of protest that included politicians and groups from the left and right of the political spectrum, including Amnesty Canada, law professors from across the country, immigration lawyers, the NDP, the National Firearms Association president Sheldon Clare, Free Dominion co-founders Connie and Mark Fournier and Libertarian Party Leader Tim Moen.
Some of their major concerns included:
Allowing CSIS agents to employ what are seen as vague measures in applying the new rules.
Enhanced information-sharing powers that will allow the government to have databases on all Canadians with no oversight.
New provisions against the promotion of terrorism that could lead to censorship of free speech and possibly secret trials.
The Liberal Party has outlined plans on its website to “repeal the problematic elements of Bill C-51, and introduce new legislation that better balances our collective security with our rights and freedoms.”
Scott Bardsley from the office of Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale told Yahoo Canada News that the minister “hopes to introduce legislation to create the committee of parliamentarians with special security clearance to review agencies with national security responsibilities by [this] summer.”
Sometime this year, the Liberal government will also hold public consultations about the country’s “national security framework” as it pertains to Canadians’ rights and freedoms. Bardsley says those consultations will be used to “inform” the government’s legislation on national security. He had no comment on when the government would introduce its new legislation after the consultations are over.
According to the party’s website, some of the measures it plans to introduce would:
guarantee that all Canadian Security Intelligence Service warrants respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms;
ensure that Canadians are not limited from lawful protests and advocacy;
narrow overly broad definitions, such as defining “terrorist propaganda” more clearly;
require a statutory review of the full Anti-terrorism Act after three years.
