GTA men arrested on fear they might commit terror act
Mounties have power to seek a peace bond if they believe someone may carry out offence
Two GTA men arrested by the RCMP under a new “fear of terrorism” provision in the Criminal Code appeared in court Thursday. Neither has been charged with anything.
Samuel Augustin Aviles, 32, of Whitby, and Kadir Abdul, 27, of Toronto, made a brief appearance in a Brampton court Thursday morning after being arrested on peace bonds by the RCMP last Friday, seeking to restrict their activities for fear they “may” commit terrorism. They are both out on bail. RCMP spokeswoman Const. Annie Delisle wrote in an email it is alleged the pair “attempted to travel to international conflict zones through Turkey for the purposes of participating in a terrorist group.”
She declined to elaborate further on the nature of the allegations.
The Mounties can pursue a peace bond if they have reasonable grounds to believe a person may commit a terrorism offence, Delisle wrote.
The two men were arrested under the “fear of terrorism” provision in Bill C-51, which became law last year. The legislation lets police arrest and seek peace bonds for people who “may” commit a terrorist offence, not just people who they suspect “shall” engage in these activities.
According to court documents, the RCMP fears Abdul may participate in an activity of a terrorist group, travel to participate in an activity of a terrorist group, or facilitate terrorist activity. The Mounties fear Aviles may travel to participate in an activity of a terrorist group.
Aviles and Kadir are represented in court by Anser Farooq, who could not immediately be reached for comment, Thursday. Farooq is also representing Kevin Omar Mohamed, a 23-year-old former University of Waterloo student who was arrested under the same “fear of terrorism” law in March and later charged with “participating in the activity of a terrorist group.”
On the quiet Whitby residential street, at the address listed for Aviles on court documents, a woman leaving the residence told the Star “there’s nobody here and who you’re looking for isn’t here,” before driving away.
Mike Patel, who lives on the same street, said Mohamed also used to live on the street but left around January. Patel said he found it “a big, big concern” that the two individuals were living on the same street at one time.
Patel added he has seen an RCMP officer surveilling the street at night, twice in the last three weeks. “I’m a smoker so sometimes I go and sit in my car at nighttime,” he said.
“I’ve noticed one car, guy in (a) uniform sitting in a silver car, just sitting there, observing, watching the street,” Patel said.
When asked about this, Delisle wrote in an email, “We generally do not comment on specific investigative methods, tools and techniques outside of court.”
At an east-end Toronto apartment listed in court papers as Abdul’s address, the man who answered the door said he was Abdul’s father but declined to speak with the Star.
“We can’t (say) anything, please talk to my lawyer,” he said.
The two men will next appear in court on May 20. With files from Michael Robinson