Canadian jailed 9 years under terrorism law

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont.

A Quebec man who attempted to leave Canada and join Daesh in Syria was sentenced to nine years in prison Friday.

Ismael Habib, 29, was found guilty under the Anti-Terrorism Act that Canada established in 2013. He is the first adult to be found guilty, under the act, of attempting to leave Canada to take part in terrorist activities.

A Canadian judge handed Habib an eight-year sentence under the terrorism act and one year for giving false information to try to obtain a passport.

“This wasn’t a utopian or irrational project for a manipulated adolescent,” Quebec Court Judge Serge Delisle said of Habib.

“Rather, it was done with perfect knowledge of the objectives of the Islamic State and its methods used.

The offender multiplied his efforts to get to Syria to join the Islamic State. He didn’t plan on getting there to play a passive role. He was ready to do anything for the Islamic State, up to dying.”

Delisle was referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, another name for Daesh.

With a reduction for time served in custody, about 27 months, and his Friday sentences running concurrently, Habib will spend another six-and-a-half years in prison. He was found guilty in June.

The prosecution said Habib was totally submerged in Daesh ideology and was a threat to the public.

His defense lawyer argued there was no proof that Habib was completely radicalized and he was not a danger to others.

But testimony during the trial revealed he told an undercover Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, who had adopted the role of a crime boss selling fake passports, that it was his “duty” to join Daesh in Syria and wage jihad.

When Habib was found guilty in June of this year, former Canadian intelligence officer Phil Gurski said the conviction under the terrorism law means it “stands the court’s test and it can be used to get a conviction.”