Men plan to join terrorists, RCMP allege
Police seek peace bond to restrict travel
• The RCMP alleges in documents released Thursday that two men arrested after returning to Toronto from Turkey may “travel to participate” in terrorism unless their conduct is restricted through peace bonds.
Kadir Abdul, 27, and Samuel Augustin Aviles, 32, appeared briefly in a Brampton, Ont., court after they were arrested last Friday at Toronto’s Pearson airport. Neither has been charged, but the RCMP is alleging they may engage in terrorism.
Rather than seeking crimi nal charges, t he RCMP wants peace bonds against the pair. Recent terrorism peace bonds have generally lasted one year and included bans on Internet use and foreign travel, as well as electronic monitoring.
“It’s becoming very, very common,” Abdul’s defence lawyer, Anser Farooq, told reporters outside the courthouse. Farooq said he does not yet know the allegations against his client. “I really don’t know anything at this point.”
But the RCMP said the two left Canada on March 23 and were detained by Turkish authorities on March 31 for allegedly attempting to enter the conflict zone. Upon their return to Canada, they were arrested and appeared in court Saturday.
Abdul, a Toronto resident, was released Monday on a $ 3,000 bond. Aviles was released on a $2,000 bond. Aviles lives on the same Whitby, Ont., street as Kevin Omar Mohamed, who was arrested March 25 and charged with terrorism.
During Thursday’s hearing, Aviles asked about a publication ban, saying a National Post reporter had been in his neighbourhood knocking on doors. But the judge responded, “I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do in that re- gard.” Both were ordered to return to court May 20.
In an information filed in the Ontario Court of Justice, RCMP Insp. Stephen Baetz wrote that police had reasonable grounds to believe Aviles “may commit one or more terrorist activities,” namely travelling to participate in a terrorist group.
The same officer alleged in a separate information that he had reasonable grounds to believe Abdul “may” participate in the activity of a terrorist group, travel to participate in the activity of a terrorist group and facilitate terrorist activity.
Peace bonds are not unusual in Canada but they have been used increasingly in terrorism- related cases since last year, when the former Conservative government made it easier to obtain them on national security grounds.
Critics want the Liberal government to rescind the change as part of its promised review of the Conservative anti-terrorism law, C-51, arguing peace bonds place severe restrictions on those who have not been charged with any crimes.
Meanwhile, the bail hearing for Mohamed concluded Thursday. A decision is expected next Wednesday. The 23- year- old former University of Waterloo engineering student faces two weapons charges over a hunting knife and a single count of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. The RCMP has alleged he travelled to Turkey in 2014 to join the alQaida faction in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra.
Turkey has been the gateway for foreign fighters on their way to Syria and Iraq to join such armed factions as ISIL.
A report Monday by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point analyzed hundreds of l eaked ISIL documents that recorded foreign fighters arriving in Syria from Turkey in 2013 and 2014. It found that 17 had identified themselves as residents of Canada and seven were citizens.