Quebec teen accused of terror had potential bomb-making materials at home
The case of two Montreal college students who earlier this week were arraigned on terrorism-related charges will continue in court on Monday.
Sabrine Djaermane and El-Mahdi Jamali are accused of intending to leave Canada to commit a terrorist act abroad, but Radio-Canada has reported that they may have been preparing to act much closer to home.
A date for a bail hearing was to be set on Friday, but a delay in the prosecution's delivery of evidence to the defence means that will be postponed until Monday.
The two 18-year-olds were arrested April 14 after allegedly trying to go to Syria to join jihadists there. They are facing charges of leaving Canada to commit a terrorist act and building or possessing explosives.
Radio-Canada has reported that officers found ingredients in Jamali's family home that could be used to make an explosive device, including a pressure cooker and other materials similar to what was used in the Boston Marathon bombings.
The sister of one of the accused also told police she heard one of the two teens say, "'If we can't go there, we'll do it here.'"
Nothing suspicious was found in the school locker that the teens shared, according to Radio-Canada.
Some insight into teens' lives
Police also discovered Djaermane and Jamali had recently signed a lease on an apartment in the Montreal borough of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Their lease extended until July 2016, and they had paid more than $2,000 for the months of April and May up front in cash.
Radio-Canada reported that the young couple had told their friends they had just gotten married and wanted to leave their families.
Jamali had reportedly left school to work, earning money for his and Djaermane's new life together. He intended to return to college in the fall.
Djaermane had just begun studying nursing at a Quebec post-secondary institution.
Connection to suspected jihadists
Radio-Canada has also established that there are ties between the couple and two other youths who went to Turkey in mid-January, namely that they all attended the same Montreal high school.
Djaermane is reported to have been in the same class as one of the youths believed to have joined Syrian jihadists.
Jamali also allegedly cultivated an online relationship with the same student. That student had been in direct contact with four of the seven young Quebecers who left for Turkey in January.
