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Canadian guilty in terror trial | Canadian guilty in terror trial |
(40 minutes later) | |
A Canadian man has been found guilty of participating in a terrorist group that allegedly planned to storm parliament and behead the prime minister. | A Canadian man has been found guilty of participating in a terrorist group that allegedly planned to storm parliament and behead the prime minister. |
The 20-year-old was arrested in 2006 along with 17 others in a massive anti-terrorism operation in Toronto. | The 20-year-old was arrested in 2006 along with 17 others in a massive anti-terrorism operation in Toronto. |
Delivering the verdict, the judge said there was "overwhelming" evidence that a terrorist group existed and that the accused "knew what it was about". | |
The trials of 10 others, including the alleged ringleaders, are still pending. | The trials of 10 others, including the alleged ringleaders, are still pending. |
Charges against the remaining suspects have since been dropped. | Charges against the remaining suspects have since been dropped. |
Undercover operation | Undercover operation |
The man, a convert to Islam, cannot be identified under Canadian law as he was a minor at the time his arrest in 2006. | |
He had denied all terrorism-related charges, and his lawyer argued that the bomb plot was a "jihadi fantasy" that the accused knew nothing about. | |
However, Superior Court Justice John Sproat found him guilty of attending terrorist training camps and described him as an eager "acolyte" of the ringleader. | |
"He clearly understood the camp was for terrorist purposes," the judge told a court in Ontario. | |
"Planning and working toward ultimate goals that appear unattainable or even unrealistic does not militate against a finding that this was a terrorist group," he said. | |
He found the defendant guilty of participating in a terrorist organisation rather than the more serious crime of plotting bomb attacks - a charge faced by some of the group. | |
The cell members were arrested in the summer of 2006 after allegedly trying to buy several tonnes of ammonium nitrate - a fertilizer that can be used to make explosives - from undercover police officers. | |
Prosecutors said the group conspired to obtain firearms and bomb key Canadian landmarks including the parliament buildings in Ottawa. | |
Canada's intelligence agency described the alleged campaign as "al-Qaeda inspired". |