Ottawa to revoke citizenship of convicted terrorist
The government has begun the process of revoking the citizenship of an Iranian-Canadian serving a prison sentence in Edmonton for terrorism, according to sources familiar with the case.
Hiva Alizadeh is the first Canadian to be targeted by a law that allows Ottawa to strip the citizenship from Canadians convicted of terrorist offences, provided they are citizens elsewhere.
The legislation came into force on May 29. As a citizen of both Canada and Iran, Alizadeh appears to be a viable candidate. Should his Canadian citizenship be revoked, he would be deported.
Under the new system, Alizadeh has 60 days to respond to the written notice he has received from the government, which depicts the law as a response to the evolving terrorist threat to Canada.
“We have been clear: Canadian citizenship is a privilege that carries both rights and responsibilities,” said Kevin Menard, the spokesman for Citizenship & Im- migration Minister Chris Alexander, when asked about Alizadeh.
“Dual nationals who commit the most serious crimes, those who seek to harm Canada and Canadians, will face serious consequences: we will move to revoke their Canadian citizenship.”
After swearing the oath of citizenship in 2007, Alizadeh left the country. When he returned in 2009, he claimed he had been visiting family in Iran because the Canadian winters made him depressed.
But a member of Ottawa’s Muslim community informed the authorities Alizadeh had said he was actually in Afghanistan, where he had undergone training and pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
Alizadeh also said he had been instructed to return to Canada to find recruits to prepare terrorist attacks against Canada and the West. “People over there want us to hit from within,” he said.
After an RCMP investigation called Project Samosa, Alizadeh was arrested in 2010 with co-accused Misbahuddin Ahmed and Khurran Sher. Awso Peshdary was arrested but not charged.
During searches, the RCMP seized detonators that had been custom built by a bomb expert at a terrorist training camp and instructions on how to make remote control bombs.
Last September, Alizadeh pleaded guilty to possessing explosives with the intent to endanger life for the benefit of a terrorist group. He was sentenced to an additional 18 years’ imprisonment.
“You are now a convicted terrorist,” the judge said. “You have betrayed the trust of your government and your fellow citizens. You have effectively been convicted of treason.”
Ahmed was also convicted but Sher was found not guilty. Peshdary was quickly released but was arrested again in February and charged over his alleged role as an Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant facilitator.
While Alizadeh was in custody, the Conservatives passed bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, which applies to not only terrorists but also those convicted of treason and espionage.
Before it can revoke citizenship, the government must first send a written notice explaining its grounds. A hearing may then be held. The decision effectively becomes a deportation order.
Both opposition parties opposed the bill, which critics say creates two-tiered citizenship because it treats those who have acquired it through naturalization differently that those born in Canada.
“The NDP and Liberals opposed this, yet the overwhelming majority of Canadians agree with us that those who commit the most serious crimes of state forfeit their right to Canadian citizenship,” Menard said.
Last week, Australia introduced similar legislation, although it goes farther, allowing the government to revoke citizenship from dual nationals who “act inconsistently with their allegiance to Australia.”