One Saad Gaya today
Uh, yeah. Or at least hatred and destruction.
“Toronto 18 ‘helper’ sentenced to 12 years,” by Isabel Teotonio for the Toronto Star, January 18 (thanks to Sounder):
Saad Gaya, who confessed to being part of a homegrown terror cell that plotted to blow up truck bombs in Toronto, was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison.
With credit for pre-trial custody, the sentence means he will now serve another 4 1/2 years.
Justice Bruce Durno told a Brampton court that terrorism offences are a “most vile course of criminal conduct” that “attack the very fabric of Canada’s democratic ideals.”
“This offence involved resorting to violence to affect change,” said Durno. “It would have terrorized not only the community in which the bombs were exploded but the wider community.”
While reading from a lengthy ruling, which took nearly an hour, the judge noted Gaya “was not the prime mover” in the plot. He said Gaya’s role in the bomb plot by members of the so-called Toronto 18 was that of a “helper,” and that his “naïve and trusting disposition” made him a “suitable recruit.”
Durno said he persuaded Gaya had accepted responsibility for his actions and demonstrated remorse….
So sorry I waged jihad! Won’t happen again!
Outside court defence lawyer Paul Slansky said his client was “stoic, but understands and accepts his guilt and the sentence imposed.”
“Terrorism is a heinous and evil crime but not necessarily everyone who commits a heinous and evil crime is himself evil,” said Slansky.
“I don’t believe Mr. Gaya is evil. I do believe that he was a misguided youth who made some seriously erroneous mistakes in deciding to trust these people who were themselves misguided.”…
Of course! A “youth” who made “mistakes”! They are all over Paris, burning cars!
In September, Gaya pleaded guilty to one count of committing an indictable offence in association with a terrorist group, namely “doing anything with intent to cause an explosion that was likely to cause serious bodily harm or death or was likely to cause serious damage to property.”…
Last month, at the close of his sentencing hearing, Gaya apologized in court for his “shameful crime,” saying he was “extremely grateful” the plot “did not progress any further.”
“Some people believe that I must have been driven by a dark ideology of hatred, nihilism and destruction,” said Gaya, while asking for leniency and requesting people not brand him a “terrorist.”
He said he was “politically naïve” and believed the group’s actions would result in Canada withdrawing troops from Afghanistan….