Terror plotter halts sentencing to scream that he’s not insane
One of two men convicted in a terrorist plot to derail an Ontario passenger train spat loudly in court Wednesday before standing and pounding his chest while insisting he is not insane.
Chiheb Esseghaier interrupted his own sentencing hearing with the brief tirade, delivered at a yell, which included the assertion that it is still the year 2014 and that he will be taken into heaven on Dec. 25, when he is 33 years old.
Later in the same hearing, Esseghaier hurled a plastic cup at a lawyer appointed on his behalf, splashing water on his sleeve. He then stood and yelled at the judge while waving his finger. “I am similar to the prophet Jesus and the prophet Joseph,” he said, screaming. “I just throw the cup at his face because he is lying.”
Esseghaier’s interjections punctuated an already tense hearing that saw a second psychiatrist testify to his mental health. Dr. Philip Klassen told the court he believes the former PhD student, originally from Tunisia, has psychotic symptoms that meet the criteria for paranoid schizophrenia.
“This gentleman presents with grandiose and paranoid delusions,” Klassen wrote in a report to the court. “In my opinion ... a serious mental disorder is now present and has been present for some time.”
Klassen added, however, that he does not believe Esseghaier is legally unfit to be sentenced. The available information “suggests that this gentleman has clearly been aware of the nature and object of the proceedings that he’s been a part of,” Klassen wrote. “(H)e’s aware that he’s being tried pursuant to the Criminal Code, and seems to have an awareness of the elements of the court process. He’s certainly aware that the court process could lead to his imprisonment.”
Esseghaier and a second man, Raed Jaser, were convicted in March of conspiring to blow a hole in a railway bridge at the behest or direction of a terrorist group, among other charges. Both men face the possibility of life in prison.
Esseghaier largely refused to participate in the court proceedings after his demand to be tried under Qu’ranic law was denied. He often appeared in court in a faded ski jacket and spoke erratically through missing teeth and a long, ratty beard.
After his conviction, a forensic psychiatrist examined Esseghaier extensively. Dr. Lisa Ramshaw found him to be delusional — he believes among other things that prison guards and other prisoners are making a movie about him — and she concluded he is likely schizophrenic and legally unfit.
The judge in the case, however, dismissed that report. In ruling in July, Superior Court Justice Michael Code said there was not “a scintilla of evidence from the pretrial or trial record to suggest (Esseghaier) was unfit to stand trial.”
Code ordered a second psychiatric review, to be conducted by Klassen. Esseghaier, however, vowed not to participate in that review, forcing Klassen to rely on Ramshaw’s transcripts as well as court files and documents, to reach his diagnosis.
Esseghaier sat silently through most of Wednesday morning. But not long before the lunch break, he spat audibly, sending gouts of spittle once, twice and a third time into the court. He then rose and objected to the fact that he hadn’t yet been given a chance to respond.
Pounding on his chest, he insisted it could not be the year 2015 because he is still alive and will be taken into heaven before the end of the year. He also angrily denied that he is delusional, saying that if he were having delusions, that would mean the holy Qur’an was a delusion.
Several hours later, after Code calmed him down, Esseghaier lashed out again. He hurled his water cup at Russell Silverstein, a court-appointed amicus curiae representing his interests, then went on a second lengthy tirade, screaming about the punishments that will come after his soul is taken into heaven on Dec. 25, 2014.
Much of Klassen’s testimony Wednesday revolved around a key question: whether Esseghaier’s descent into radicalism was caused by or merely coincided with the onset of his mental illness.
The hearing is scheduled to continue Thursday and wrap up before the end of the week.