Anser Farooq is a Canadian defence attorney based in Mississauga, Ontario, who gained notability defending suspects during the 2006 Ontario terrorism plot.
Farooq represented two members [1] of the 2006 Ontario terrorism plot: Ibrahim Aboud, and Qayyum Jamal. Aboud and Jamal had their charges stayed in April 2008. [2] [3]
In 2007, he represented Ayad Mejid, a Muslim preacher who was suspected of using child pornography. [4] In 2010, charges were dismissed after a judge found that Mejid's rights were violated when he was forced to turn over his computer to investigators. [5] In April 2011, Majid filed a lawsuit for $10,000,000.00 against the government, where he was again represented by Farooq. [6]
Farooq was also counsel for Khurram Sher, who was alleged to have participated in an Ottawa terrorism plot. [1] Sher had auditioned for Canadian Idol. [7] On October 13, 2010, Sher was released on bail. [8] [9] Sher was represented by Michael Edelson at trial, where he was acquitted. [10]
Farooq was counsel for Mohamed Hersi, who was arrested on March 31, 2011 at Toronto Pearson International Airport and was alleged to have attempted to join Al-Shabaab. [11] After a two-day hearing Hersi was released on bail April 29, 2011. [12] [13] [14] [15] Hersi changed counsel and was represented by Paul Salansky at trial. He was convicted of the charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison. [16]
Farooq also sued the CBSA for defamation on behalf of his client, Mr. Noori, and demanded that the Canada-wide arrest warrant issued pursuant to the IRPA be rescinded. CBSA placed Mr. Noori on the wanted list for crimes against humanity and war crime - however, following the claim the CBSA removed Mr. Noori from their web site. [17]
Farooq also was counsel for Jahanzeb Malik, who Canada deported to Pakistan while accusing Malik of plotting mayhem in the heart of Toronto. Farooq called the plan to deport "absurd". [18]
Farooq also represented Mohammed El Shaer of Windsor who travelled to Middle East and was arrested on a terrorism peace bond. [19] He also represented Mr. Abdul, who entered into a peace bond following allegations of participation on terrorist group. [20]
Abdullah Ahmed Said Khadr is a Canadian citizen whose alleged ties to terrorism resulted in a protracted international legal issue. Born in Canada, he grew up in Pakistan. As the oldest son of Ahmed Khadr, who had ties to the Afghani Mujahideen, Abdullah was sent to the Khalden military training camp as a boy. As a young adult, he allegedly became an arms dealer, selling illicit weapons to militants involved in the War in Afghanistan and related conflicts.
Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams are Canadian counterterrorist, counter-foreign interference, and counter-espionage units operating under the auspices of Public Safety Canada. These federal investigative teams were formed in 2002 in response to the September 11 attacks.
The 2006 Ontario terrorism case is the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adults and 4 youths . These individuals have been characterized as having been inspired by al-Qaeda.
Zakaria Amara is one of 17 people detained on June 2 and 3, 2006, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was convicted for planning to launch terrorist attacks against targets in Southern Ontario and was believed to be one of the ringleaders. A dual Canadian-Jordanian citizen at the time of his arrest, Amara was stripped of his Canadian citizenship on September 26, 2015. However, on June 19, 2017, his Canadian citizenship was automatically restored following the passage of Bill C-6.
Ahmad Mustafa Ghany is a 2004 graduate of McMaster University's health sciences program, and was one of 17 people initially arrested in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests.
Saad Khalid was one of 17 people detained and arrested on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the Greater Toronto Area in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests.
Fahim Ahmad is one of 11 people convicted in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case. He was a ringleader in the group. He was 21 years old at the time of arrest, and married with two children.
Abdul Qayyum Jamal is a Canadian janitor and school bus driver who was labelled the ringleader of an alleged terrorist plot in Toronto in June 2006 after a Canadian Member of Parliament reported his virulent criticism of Canadian troops in Afghanistan to police. He was held for nearly two years protesting his innocence before all charges against him were dropped.
Muhammad Shareef Abdelhaleem, a database engineer, is one of 17 people initially arrested in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He is alleged to have plotted coordinated bombing attacks against targets in southern Ontario.
Steven Vikash Chand is one of 17 people arrested in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He and his conspirators are alleged to have plotted coordinated bombing attacks against targets in southern Ontario.
Mohammed Ali Dirie was one of 17 people connected to arrests on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released in October 2011, left Canada in 2012, and reportedly died in 2013 fighting in the Syrian Civil War, although his death has not been conclusively verified.
Among the 18 arrests during the 2006 Toronto terrorism case were four youths whose names could not be published because of the provisions of Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act. One of them had the charges against him dropped nine months after his arrest and two others have been released on bail.
Mubin Shaikh is a Canadian former security intelligence and counter terrorism operative, currently a Professor of Public Safety at Seneca College and also Counter Extremism Specialist for the U.S.-based NGO, Parents for Peace.
Ibrahim Alkhalel Mohammed Aboud was the 18th person arrested in the 2006 Toronto terrorism plot, on August 3, two months after the other 17 suspects.
Faisal Kutty is a lawyer, academic, writer, public speaker and human rights activist. He served as an adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and is an Associate Professor of Law Emeritus at Valparaiso University. He has previously taught at Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law of Barry University and guest lectured at dozens of universities around North America.
Edward Sapiano was a Canadian defence lawyer, based in Toronto, Ontario, notable for his role in many high-profile criminal cases. He initiated Canada's largest criminal investigation of police, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of several Toronto police officers and was also involved in the so-called Toronto 18 terrorism trial. Edward Sapiano is also noted for demanding immediate DNA testing of his client shortly following the 1996 arrest of the suspected "North York serial rapist", leading to his client Jeremy Foster's full vindication, despite a false confession to the crime. In his quest to get illegal guns off the street, Sapiano also created the only lawyer-operated gun amnesty program available in North America, Piece Options. He is also known for starting a database of rulings and judgements to track alleged misconduct among Toronto-area officers which was then retrievable for cross-examinations in other cases by other lawyers. Edward Sapiano, after putting his practice on hold for two and a half years due to kidney failure, returned to court in 2017 for the Andrea White murder trial. Edward died on March 21, 2020, from complications of kidney disease and was cited to be the first lawyer in Canada to practise while undergoing 10 hours of daily dialysis. He was regularly featured by media outlets, including The Globe and Mail, CBC, and the New York Times commenting on criminal law issues.
Unfair Dealing is an independent 2008 documentary film produced by Canadian broadcaster David Weingarten. The film was originally marketed to an online audience.
A prominent Egyptian-Canadian Muslim, Shaher Elsohemy was paid $4 million by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for his role in infiltrating the alleged terrorist plot in the 2006 Toronto terrorism case; although some have claimed he acted as an agent provocateur, their claim failed in court.
Project Thread was a Canadian police operation that resulted in the arrest of 24 immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area in 2003 amidst incorrect allegations they formed a threat to national security, and maintained "suspected ties to al-Qaeda". It was later determined that police had based their operation on "flimsy evidence and stereotypes".
The 2013 Via Rail Canada terrorism plot was a conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in and against Canada in the form of disruption, destruction or derailment of trains operated by Canada's national passenger railway service, Via Rail Canada. The alleged targeted train route was the Maple Leaf, the daily train service between Toronto and New York City operated jointly by Via Rail and Amtrak. A railway bridge over the Twenty Mile Creek in Jordan, Ontario, was later identified as the target, according to unsealed court documents.