Government moves to revoke citizenship of convicted terrorist
Bill C-24 put to the test for first time
The government has begun the process of revoking the citizenship of an Iranian-Canadian serving a prison sentence in Edmonton for terrorism, according to sources familiar with the case.
Hiva Alizadeh is the first Canadian to be targeted by a law that allows Ottawa to strip the citizenship from Canadians convicted of terrorist offences, provided they are citizens elsewhere.
The legislation came into force May 29. Should his Canadian citizenship be revoked, Hiva Alizadeh would be deported.
Under the new system, he has 60 days to respond.
“We have been clear: Canadian citizenship is a privilege that carries both rights and responsibilities,” said Kevin Menard, spokesman for Citizenship & Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. “Dual nationals who commit the most serious crimes, those who seek to harm Canada and Canadians, will face serious consequences: we will move to revoke their Canadian citizenship.”
After swearing the oath of citizenship in 2007, Alizadeh left the country. When he returned in 2009, he claimed he had been visiting family in Iran because Canadian winters depressed him. But a member of Ottawa’s Muslim community informed the authorities Alizadeh had said he was actually in Afghanistan, where he had undergone training and pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden.
Alizadeh had been instructed to return to Canada to find recruits to prepare terrorist attacks against Canada and the West. “People over there want us to hit from within,” he said.
After an RCMP investigation, Alizadeh was arrested in 2010 with co-accused Misbahuddin Ahmed and Khurran Sher. Awso Peshdary was arrested but not charged. During searches, the RCMP seized detonators custom built by a bomb expert at a terrorist training camp and remote control bomb instructions.
Last September, Alizadeh pleaded guilty to possessing explosives with the intent to endanger life for the benefit of a terrorist group. He was sentenced to an additional 18 years’ imprisonment.
“You are now a convicted terrorist,” the judge said. “You have betrayed the trust of your government and your fellow citizens. You have effectively been convicted of treason.”
Ahmed was also convicted but Sher was found not guilty. Peshdary was quickly released but was arrested again in February and charged over his alleged role as an Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant facilitator.
While Alizadeh was in custody, the Conservatives passed bill C-24, the Strengthening Canadian Citizenship Act, which applies to not only terrorists but also those convicted of treason and espionage.