Couple won’t mount defence in terror case, court told
Trial judge also withdraws allegation that pair ‘facilitated a terrorist act’
The lawyers representing the young Montreal couple charged with a series of terror-related offences will not mount a defence in the case.
Attorneys Charles Benmouyal and Tiago Murias made the announcement to the jury Monday afternoon.
That means the accused, Sabrine Djermane, 21, and El Mahdi Jamali, 20, will present no evidence in their defence on charges alleging they tried to leave Canada during the spring of 2015 to join the terrorist group ISIL in Syria. They are also charged with possessing some of the materials to build a pressure-cooker bomb based on instructions published in a terrorist propaganda magazine called Inspire.
As is standard in all criminal trials in Canada, the person accused of a crime is not required to present a defence because the burden rests entirely on the Crown to prove its case.
The announcement came on a day that involved a few developments in the trial even though no evidence was presented to the jury. Earlier, the presiding judge, Superior Court Justice Marc David, informed the jury that he was withdrawing one of the four charges originally filed in the case.
The jury has not heard evidence since Nov. 7, and David explained the delay was attributable to arguments he heard on two motions related to the charges.
David did not explain to the jury why he was withdrawing the charge. The charge alleged Djermane and Jamali “facilitated a terrorist act” between Feb. 4 and April 14, 2015.
The couple remain accused of attempting to leave Canada with the goal of committing a terrorist act in another country, being in possession or in control of explosive substances, and committing a criminal act for the benefit or under the direction of a terrorist group.
The Crown’s theory is that Djermane and Jamali were preparing to leave Canada to travel to Syria to join ISIL in 2015 and that they were preparing a pressure-cooker bomb similar to the ones set off at the Boston Marathon in 2013.
In another development in the trial, David agreed with a request from a juror (referred to in court only as Juror No. 3) to be excused from the panel for personal reasons. David did not say what was behind the request, but he noted that it involved a situation that Juror No. 3 brought up a few weeks ago.
“I find it is justified,” David said, while also informing the jury that the trial will probably be over before the holidays begin in December.
Closing arguments will begin on Dec. 4.