Charkaoui asks how another youth was allowed to go to jihad
A Montreal educator who fought for years to have his name cleared after he was detained under a security certificate questioned the competence of the same authorities who once alleged he was a sleeper agent for a terrorist group after news emerged that a seventh young Quebecer has disappeared after leaving for Turkey recently.
Adil Charkaoui posted the comments on his Facebook page on Saturday following a report by Radio- Canada that a seventh young person, who was not named, left Quebec in January about the same time as six others. Radio Canada referred only to postings on social media and said they showed the student knew one of the other six who disappeared and had taken courses at the Centre Communautaire islamique de l’Est de Montréal, where Charkaoui teaches Arabic and Qu’ran studies. According to the report, the student attended Collège de Maisonneuve, as did four of the others who disappeared in January. The CEGEP was one of two to suspend contracts with Charkaoui’s centre following reports last month that at least one of the six who disappeared studied at his centre. Authorities fear the students’ ultimate destination was Syria to join jihadi fighters there.
“It is unthinkable that such a large number of young people could leave for a destination ( Turkey) under so much surveillance in the middle of the school year without anyone noticing,” wrote Charkaoui, who was arrested in 2003 and successfully challenged the validity of the information authorities brought against him. “The public security minister, CSIS and the Canada Border Services Agency should have to answer for the important failures that let these young people disappear, leaving their parents in total disarray.”
Collège de Maisonneuve issued a statement on Saturday stating it was “dismayed” to learn of the report that another of its students might have headed to Syria. While the CEGEP did not confirm that another of its students had disappeared it did state that “the management of Collège de Maisonneuve reiterates that it wishes to take part in the measures of prevention and protection of its students. It wishes to work in collaboration with the police authorities and all of those who search for solutions to this ( problem).”