Why is there a total news blackout on this case? Is the Canadian government afraid that this case, which was obviously Islam-inspired (with “John Nuttall,” his Muslim name as usual not given, clutching a Qur’an in court), will be the occasion for unfavorable coverage regarding Islam? Does it make Canadians safer to black out such information, or would they be actually made safer by an honest discussion of how Islamic jihadists use the texts and teachings of Islam to justify violence and supremacism, and what non-Muslims and Muslims can and should do about it?
The Canadian Press’s caption for the above photo is “John Nuttall, left, holding a Qur’an, and Amanda Korody, shown in this courtroom sketch, appear in provincial court in Surrey, B.C., on July 9, 2013. Photograph by: Felicity Don, The Canadian Press.”
“Canada day terrorism trial set to start January 2015,” from The Canadian Press, February 28:
VANCOUVER – A British Columbia couple accused of a Canada Day bomb plot at the provincial legislature are scheduled to stand trial for more than three months beginning in January of next year.
John Nuttall and Amanda Korody were charged last July in what the RCMP alleged was an al-Qaida-inspired plan to use pressure-cooker bombs to target the festivities in Victoria.
A judge has now set a jury trial for Jan. 26 to May 1, 2015.
The case is under a publication ban and virtually everything said in a Vancouver courtroom Friday, aside from the dates of the couple’s hearings, cannot be reported.
Nuttall and Korody both sat in the prisoner’s box, separated by two seats, exchanging occasional glances as lawyers discussed the case.
Their next court appearance is scheduled for April.