Confusion, despair from terror suspect isolated in Don Jail
Nov 08, 2007 04:30 AM
Thomas Walkom
Fahim Ahmad has decided to break his silence. Seventeen months after he was arrested and jailed as one of the alleged ringleaders of an alleged plot to blow up buildings and behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the 23-year-old Mississauga man says he remains baffled by the charges. In his first media interview, Ahmad says he is still waiting for the government to produce a snippet of credible evidence to back up its claims.
Ahmad is one of the so-called Toronto 18, a group of Muslim men and boys arrested in a 2006 sweep that made headlines around the world.
At the beginning, the overarching storyline was that police had managed to derail a homegrown terror plot on the scale of the London bombings
Since then, however, the government's case has begun to fray. First, it was revealed that two police informers had played central roles in the alleged plot. One was reportedly paid $4 million
Second, charges against three juveniles were stayed (effectively meaning that they are off the hook).
Then last month, in the midst of testimony from police informer Mubin Shaikh, the government abruptly halted the preliminary hearing into the charges and announced it would go directly to trial – probably sometime next year.
Ahmad and two other accused men have been moved to the Don Jail where – unlike the remaining eight still in custody – they are kept in strict isolation. Exactly why is unclear. The three are allowed to telephone out, so the rule is clearly not designed to prevent them from talking to other alleged militants – or even to the Toronto Star. They just can't talk face to face with live human beings, which Ahmad says is driving him nuts.
"My whole world now is a 6 by 4 by 10 room," he says. "It's become normal in a not very good sense. You wake up and know you will be in this room the whole day. There's no hope of anything. ... It gets to you mentally. You don't know where you're going, how long it's going to take. It drives you crazy."
This, of course, is the treatment accorded to someone who is still viewed by the law as innocent. By the time his trial is finished, Ahmad figures he'll have been in solitary confinement for 2 1/2 years.
What of the case? He is not allowed to disclose what was heard during the now-torpedoed preliminary hearing. But he says he remains frustrated by his inability to answer the government's case. The reason, he says, is that it has presented no case other than the testimony of the informants – which he insists has no credibility.
"When they first charged me, I never understood them (the charges). I still don't understand them. They seemed completely made up. They made no sense to me. But then when I hear how much the informers were being paid, I said `Hey, when you're being paid $4 million for something it doesn't take too much to make up some kind of story.' Right?
"(The Crown) says I'm part of some group. What group? Nobody answers. They say: `We'll tell you in court.' It's been a year and a half and still no one answers this question. ... I mean, what group is there? They say you planned all these things. I'm just waiting to see some kind of evidence."
And so he waits. Earlier this week, he staged a brief hunger strike to persuade jail authorities to grant the few privileges the court has allowed him (such as longer phone calls). That was one reason. The other was despair.
"No one cares," says Ahmad. "It's lock us up and throw away the key."
Showing posts with label oppression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oppression. Show all posts
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Terror Suspects Ask For Prison Conditions To Be Eased
Melissa Leong and Darryl Konynenbelt , National Post Published: Monday, May 07, 2007
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f5505f2e-dd4e-4488-9c65-28ac61d97b50&k=50154
BRAMPTON, Ont. - Lawyers for several men accused of plotting to bomb target in southern Ontario were in court Monday requesting their clients be released from solitary confinement, a condition one lawyer called "cruel and unusual punishment."
"Prolonged isolation is torture," Edward Sapiano, a Toronto defence lawyer, said in front of the Brampton courthouse. "The Supreme Court of Canada has expressly stated that prolonged isolation is not something that would survive a charter challenge."
The proceedings which are subject to a publication ban, are expected to last two weeks.
The suspects, held since the "Toronto 17" arrests last summer, are held in isolation at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton; many have been in solitary confinement since then. A court order forbids most of the co-accused from communicating with one another.
Monte Kwinter, Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said Monday he is satisfied the accused are being treated properly.
Outside court, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal said her husband Qayum Jamal, the eldest of the suspects, spends more than 23 hours a day in a 10-by-12-foot cell with a desk, a toilet and a bed. It leaves him only four feet of room to move, she said.
She is permitted two 20-minute visits with her husband a week, she said. She also said she was able to bring lunch - chicken shawarma, samosas and Coke - for the 11 accused.
They were casually dressed Monday and sat shoulder-to-shoulder inside two glass prisoner boxes. Because the suspects eat together, are transported to Brampton from the federal penitentiary in the same vehicle and are held in the same cell at the court house, their lawyers charge that the non-communication order is fruitless. "With respect to an order that imposes non-communication, the justice system should not be imposing an order that is unenforceable," said Sapiano who represents Yasin Mohamed, charged with smuggling weapons for terrorist purposes.
He said his client has never requested protective custody but the prison authorities do not want the accused to be in the general population. He said he is optimistic their constitutional challenge will be successful. "I anticipate ... I'll be given all that I ask for on behalf of my client that he not be subjected to isolation and be allowed to co-mingle with other human beings."
Seventeen men living in and around Toronto were arrested in a series of raids conducted over two days last June. An 18th man was arrested a month later.
Some have been granted bail. All are charged with belonging to a Canadian terrorist group.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=f5505f2e-dd4e-4488-9c65-28ac61d97b50&k=50154
BRAMPTON, Ont. - Lawyers for several men accused of plotting to bomb target in southern Ontario were in court Monday requesting their clients be released from solitary confinement, a condition one lawyer called "cruel and unusual punishment."
"Prolonged isolation is torture," Edward Sapiano, a Toronto defence lawyer, said in front of the Brampton courthouse. "The Supreme Court of Canada has expressly stated that prolonged isolation is not something that would survive a charter challenge."
The proceedings which are subject to a publication ban, are expected to last two weeks.
The suspects, held since the "Toronto 17" arrests last summer, are held in isolation at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton; many have been in solitary confinement since then. A court order forbids most of the co-accused from communicating with one another.
Monte Kwinter, Ontario's Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said Monday he is satisfied the accused are being treated properly.
Outside court, Cheryfa MacAulay Jamal said her husband Qayum Jamal, the eldest of the suspects, spends more than 23 hours a day in a 10-by-12-foot cell with a desk, a toilet and a bed. It leaves him only four feet of room to move, she said.
She is permitted two 20-minute visits with her husband a week, she said. She also said she was able to bring lunch - chicken shawarma, samosas and Coke - for the 11 accused.
They were casually dressed Monday and sat shoulder-to-shoulder inside two glass prisoner boxes. Because the suspects eat together, are transported to Brampton from the federal penitentiary in the same vehicle and are held in the same cell at the court house, their lawyers charge that the non-communication order is fruitless. "With respect to an order that imposes non-communication, the justice system should not be imposing an order that is unenforceable," said Sapiano who represents Yasin Mohamed, charged with smuggling weapons for terrorist purposes.
He said his client has never requested protective custody but the prison authorities do not want the accused to be in the general population. He said he is optimistic their constitutional challenge will be successful. "I anticipate ... I'll be given all that I ask for on behalf of my client that he not be subjected to isolation and be allowed to co-mingle with other human beings."
Seventeen men living in and around Toronto were arrested in a series of raids conducted over two days last June. An 18th man was arrested a month later.
Some have been granted bail. All are charged with belonging to a Canadian terrorist group.
Sunday, April 8, 2007
'Inhumane' isolation for terror suspects: Lawyers
Apr 08, 2007 11:24 AM
Colin Perkel Canadian Press
Four Canadian terrorism suspects have been held in extreme isolation for almost a year even though the courts have never ordered their segregation and their trials are months, if not years, away, lawyers close to the case say.
The four are among 18 men and boys in southern Ontario arrested in a blaze of national and international publicity last summer. All were charged with various terrorism-related offences.
In most of the cases, prosecutors asked for and were granted an order that forbids the co-accused from communicating with one another.
That order prompted authorities at the Maplehurst detention centre in Milton, Ont., to lock up a dozen suspects, who did not get bail, in small isolation cells for more than 23 hours a day.
Those conditions are now subject to a legal challenge on the basis they amount to cruel and unusual punishment. In four cases, the non-communication order was never requested, several lawyers told The Canadian Press.
"It's appalling," said lawyer Edward Sapiano.
"It's the non-communication order that is responsible for their isolated segregation."
Sapiano, who represents Yasim Mohamed, 25, who is accused of importing weapons to benefit a terrorist organization, called the conditions of detention "inhumane."
The other three accused held in isolation despite the lack of a non-communication order – a situation confirmed in a recent letter to counsel by government lawyer Steve Coroza – are Jamal James, 23, Saad Khalid, 20, and Ali Dirie, 23.
Sapiano said the Crown simply "forgot" to seek the order against the four accused, but it was not immediately clear whether it was in fact an oversight or deliberate.
Some of the lawyers involved were not even aware of the lack of the non-communication order.
Reached by telephone, Coroza said he was discussing the issue with senior Crown counsel and would talk later but then did not return the call.
Conditions of detention for all the accused – most of whom have no criminal record – have become the focus of a legal challenge in Ontario Superior Court on May 7.
The challenge is based in part on the Charter of Rights.
Defence lawyer David Kolinsky, whose client Zakaria Amara, 21, was denied bail, called the segregation cruel and a violation of religious freedoms because the inmates cannot pray together.
The accused are not a threat to one another and could, if needed, be kept apart from the general inmate population without being held in segregation, he said.
William Naylor, acting for co-accused Shareef Abdelhaleen, called the segregation "psychological torture."
"They're locked up in a metal cage with metal walls 23 1/2 hours a day," Naylor said.
"Given the length of time that these men and boys are going to be there, by the time they come out, I don't know if they'll be basket cases if they don't do something about that."
Several defence lawyers called the implementation of the non-communication order a farce.
For example, the accused are transported to court in a single vehicle, housed in a holding cell together at the courthouse in Brampton, Ont., and sit shoulder to shoulder in the prisoner box.
The lack of orders against four of the accused who are nevertheless being held in isolation is
"reflective of the silliness of the whole thing," said Sapiano.
"A court order shouldn't be made silly."
Lawyer Anser Farooq said the non-communication order itself is not at issue, given that it's common when there are co-accused.
It's how it's being enforced, he said.
"It's an impractical order (that) doesn't really serve any purpose," Farooq said.
"It's causing tremendous hardship," said Farooq, noting the families of the accused are not allowed any direct contact with them.
Colin Perkel Canadian Press
Four Canadian terrorism suspects have been held in extreme isolation for almost a year even though the courts have never ordered their segregation and their trials are months, if not years, away, lawyers close to the case say.
The four are among 18 men and boys in southern Ontario arrested in a blaze of national and international publicity last summer. All were charged with various terrorism-related offences.
In most of the cases, prosecutors asked for and were granted an order that forbids the co-accused from communicating with one another.
That order prompted authorities at the Maplehurst detention centre in Milton, Ont., to lock up a dozen suspects, who did not get bail, in small isolation cells for more than 23 hours a day.
Those conditions are now subject to a legal challenge on the basis they amount to cruel and unusual punishment. In four cases, the non-communication order was never requested, several lawyers told The Canadian Press.
"It's appalling," said lawyer Edward Sapiano.
"It's the non-communication order that is responsible for their isolated segregation."
Sapiano, who represents Yasim Mohamed, 25, who is accused of importing weapons to benefit a terrorist organization, called the conditions of detention "inhumane."
The other three accused held in isolation despite the lack of a non-communication order – a situation confirmed in a recent letter to counsel by government lawyer Steve Coroza – are Jamal James, 23, Saad Khalid, 20, and Ali Dirie, 23.
Sapiano said the Crown simply "forgot" to seek the order against the four accused, but it was not immediately clear whether it was in fact an oversight or deliberate.
Some of the lawyers involved were not even aware of the lack of the non-communication order.
Reached by telephone, Coroza said he was discussing the issue with senior Crown counsel and would talk later but then did not return the call.
Conditions of detention for all the accused – most of whom have no criminal record – have become the focus of a legal challenge in Ontario Superior Court on May 7.
The challenge is based in part on the Charter of Rights.
Defence lawyer David Kolinsky, whose client Zakaria Amara, 21, was denied bail, called the segregation cruel and a violation of religious freedoms because the inmates cannot pray together.
The accused are not a threat to one another and could, if needed, be kept apart from the general inmate population without being held in segregation, he said.
William Naylor, acting for co-accused Shareef Abdelhaleen, called the segregation "psychological torture."
"They're locked up in a metal cage with metal walls 23 1/2 hours a day," Naylor said.
"Given the length of time that these men and boys are going to be there, by the time they come out, I don't know if they'll be basket cases if they don't do something about that."
Several defence lawyers called the implementation of the non-communication order a farce.
For example, the accused are transported to court in a single vehicle, housed in a holding cell together at the courthouse in Brampton, Ont., and sit shoulder to shoulder in the prisoner box.
The lack of orders against four of the accused who are nevertheless being held in isolation is
"reflective of the silliness of the whole thing," said Sapiano.
"A court order shouldn't be made silly."
Lawyer Anser Farooq said the non-communication order itself is not at issue, given that it's common when there are co-accused.
It's how it's being enforced, he said.
"It's an impractical order (that) doesn't really serve any purpose," Farooq said.
"It's causing tremendous hardship," said Farooq, noting the families of the accused are not allowed any direct contact with them.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Less Than One in 20 Held Under Anti-Terror Laws is Charged
By Nigel Morris, Home Affairs Correspondent
Less than 4 per cent of the people arrested under anti-terror laws since the September 11 attacks five years ago have been convicted of terrorist offences, it was disclosed yesterday.
Following warnings from Muslim groups over the growing alienation of large sections of the community, the Government faced demands for an overhaul of anti-terrorist legislation.
Ministers also came under sustained fire in the House of Lords for their use of control orders against terrorist suspects, with peers warning that the policy could backfire by attracting support for extremism.
Statistics released by the Home Office disclosed that 1,166 people were detained between 11 September 2001, and 31 December last year on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
These arrests have so far led to 221 charges and just 40 convictions, although some other prosecutions are still in the pipeline.
Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that families had been destroyed, children traumatised and innocent people criminalised as a result of the legislation. "These are not just empty statistics but innocent human beings whose lives have been shattered by such heavy-handed and discriminatory policies," he said.
SOURCE: The Independent
Less than 4 per cent of the people arrested under anti-terror laws since the September 11 attacks five years ago have been convicted of terrorist offences, it was disclosed yesterday.
Following warnings from Muslim groups over the growing alienation of large sections of the community, the Government faced demands for an overhaul of anti-terrorist legislation.
Ministers also came under sustained fire in the House of Lords for their use of control orders against terrorist suspects, with peers warning that the policy could backfire by attracting support for extremism.
Statistics released by the Home Office disclosed that 1,166 people were detained between 11 September 2001, and 31 December last year on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
These arrests have so far led to 221 charges and just 40 convictions, although some other prosecutions are still in the pipeline.
Massoud Shadjareh, chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that families had been destroyed, children traumatised and innocent people criminalised as a result of the legislation. "These are not just empty statistics but innocent human beings whose lives have been shattered by such heavy-handed and discriminatory policies," he said.
SOURCE: The Independent
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)