The modern new face of a terror case
Rehab Dughmosh appears for all the world to be the face of the modern new (alleged) terrorist — in the jargon of pop psychology, mad, bad, sad or an amalgam of all three.
As a prosecutor remarked Monday at her latest court appearance, “The question is, is she unwilling or is she unable?” to participate in the Canadian justice system.
Put another way, and this is one of the other issues the court may yet determine, is Dughmosh mentally fit to stand trial?
The 32-year-old Syrian-Canadian faces 14 terror-related charges after a bizarre episode at a Canadian Tire store in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough on June 3, wherein Dughmosh allegedly swung a golf club and wielded a knife at employees and customers while wearing a headband with Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) markings and screaming “Allahu Akbar!”
She was eventually subdued by employees.
After several refusals to leave her cell at the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, Ont., most recently last week, Ontario Court Judge Kimberley Crosbie reluctantly ordered that if necessary, she be forcibly brought to a video room at the prison to make Monday’s appearance.
She was originally charged with assault, assault with a weapon, threatening death and the like, but early last month was also charged by the RCMP with terrorism offences.
According to the Mounties, Dughmosh left Canada in April of 2016, intending to join ISIS in Syria but was intercepted in Turkey and sent back.
Earlier that month, court documents show, she separated from her husband.
Dughmosh has the increasingly typical background of the modern terrorist — she is alleged to have been at the least inspired by an extremist organization, had limited success in her adopted country and a recent major stress. Against similar backdrops have many lone-wolf terror attacks occurred in Western Europe, Canada and the United States, whether jihadist or white supremacist.
On Monday, Dughmosh as usual refused to leave her cell to go to the video room (many routine court appearances are now done this way).
A prison officer, appearing on camera, told the judge “She’s refusing to come in again.”
Crosbie then asked to hear from the lawyer she earlier had appointed to act as a “friend of the court,” Ingrid Grant.
Dughmosh has consistently refused to be represented by a lawyer of her own, despite Crosbie’s repeated pleas. She announced she wants to plead guilty and denounced any law but Allah’s.
Grant said “there is a concern” arising from Dughmosh’s behaviour that “suggests she’s not understanding something about the process.”
It could be, Grant said, that Dughmosh has “a mental disorder” or just simply doesn’t know the ins and outs of the proceeding.
At that point, federal prosecutor Bradley Reitz (there because of the terrorism charges) told the judge “I don’t take unwillingness as a sign of mental illness,” and noted, “It seems to me she has to appear in some fashion at some point.”
Provincial prosecutor Phil Kotenan (there because of the more ordinary charges) said there is a more widespread tendency for accused people “to not want to come to court while in custody,” and that in this case, Dughmosh’s continued absence from the proceedings “adds to nothing but a gap in the evidence” about her mental capacity.
Next, Crosbie quizzed the prison officer about the nature of the extraction team that was on standby: It has five members, the officer said, who have special training to “limit their exposure to risk and hers (Dughmosh’s).”
That officer’s sergeant then popped into view, telling Crosbie that Dughmosh hasn’t been leaving her cell. “She doesn’t shower, she doesn’t go to fresh air, she doesn’t like to be on camera … She will never go to court. I’m confident of that.”
A little later, after the lawyers gnawed on that a while, the officer came back on camera to tell the judge that although she doesn’t shower, Dughmosh gets clean clothing every day and “washes in her cell.” Reassured by the guards that “our goal is to not lay hands on her” and that the team would try negotiation first, Crosbie authorized them to bring Dughmosh to the video room.
Crosbie explained the process, speaking slowly so the Arabic interpreter could translate every word for Dughmosh, occasionally asking her questions.
Each time, regardless of the question, Dughmosh replied, “Hey, you are all infidels. I do not worship what you worship.”
Handcuffed, a thick lock of dark hair hanging in her face, she was standing between two guards wearing helmets and visors. Each appeared to keep a hand on one of Dughmosh’s arms, and once, she departed from her script long enough to say, “listening. Hurt me. Hurting me.”
At another point, while saying, “You are all infidels. I do not worship what you worship,” Dughmosh cracked a broad smile.
“So, Ms. Dughmosh,” the judge said, “I know you said you were listening. What I’m thinking about … is whether or not to order an assessment to see if you’re fit — mentally able — to continue with the proceeding.”
“OK,” said Dughmosh, “you are all infidels. I do not worship what you worship.”
The judge ordered her to return to the video room next Monday, at which point she may order a psychiatric assessment under 672.11 (a) of the criminal code.
She also noted that this was the first time Dughmosh had appeared without her niqab, the full face covering, and asked the prison officials to find out if “this was her choice.”
It was, in short, a process remarkably considerate, and excruciatingly careful of Dughmosh’s rights, for a lousy infidel court.
YOU ARE ALL INFIDELS. I DO NOT WORSHIP WHAT YOU WORSHIP.