Whether or not he has really repented of his aspirations to mass murder, he needs to repent of his chutzpah. “Toronto 18 mastermind wants shorter sentence,” by Kevin Connor for QMI Agency, September 21 (thanks to Jo):
TORONTO – The mastermind of the so-called Toronto 18 no longer believes in extremist Islamic ideology so his life sentence should be reduced, an appeals court has heard.
Zakaria Amara, 24, was the ringleader of a terrorist group with plans to set off bombs in downtown Toronto, police stations, military bases and at Parliament Hill.
But at least one of the three justices hearing the appeal appeared to take issue with arguments put forward Tuesday in a Toronto courtroom.
“Why should we send a message to society that if you have remorse we will forgive you? I’m hearing poor Mr. Amara but I’m thinking poor to the thousands of Canadians if his plot had worked,” said Justice Michael Moldaver.
Amara’s lawyer, James Lockyer, is trying to have his client’s sentence reduced from life to a range of 18 years to 20 years….
During his trial, Amara said he has “gone from a man of destruction to one of construction.”…