Man arrested in Quebec for alleged plot to kill Jews in NYC being held in Rimouski

A Pakistani man arrested in Quebec for an alleged plot to kill Jews in New York City is being held in a detention centre hundreds of kilometres from Montreal, where he says the French-speaking guards don’t understand him.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, who appeared remotely in Quebec Superior Court this morning, says he’s the only person at the provincial detention centre in Rimouski, Que., who speaks English, and he wants to be returned to a facility near Montreal.

His lawyer in Montreal, Gaétan Bourassa, says it’s difficult to communicate with his client because he’s so far away, and he’s been unable to show him court documents related to his case.

“I asked the judge that he should be [brought] back in Montreal for the purpose to be detained in the area of Montreal and to permit me to meet him. Because he is six hours from Montreal, to prepare the case,” explained Bourassa.

A Superior Court judge on Friday agreed to recommend that Khan be returned to the Montreal region and set his next court appearance for Dec. 20.

Khan, a Pakistani national living in Ontario, was arrested Sept. 4 in Ormstown, Que., allegedly on his way to carry out a mass shooting in support of the Islamic State at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn around Oct. 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.

“The only way that they said that I can give it to him is to go in the Rimouski and deposit in this account over there, or to send it by post mail. And the post mail is on strike,” said Bourassa.

Authorities allege that Khan — who arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa — intended to use “automatic and semi-automatic weapons” in an alleged terror plot. 

United States officials charged Khan with one count of attempting to provide material support and resources to a terrorist organization, and Canada has agreed to a request to have him extradited to stand trial.

“My impression that it was a victim of entrapment by police officers in the States. I’ll see if it’s the proof going that way,” said Bourassa.

A lawyer representing Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General – the liaison with the US – was unable to comment but presented documents in court to proceed with the case.

“I just received a documentation two days ago. I didn’t have the chance to pass through all the documents and talk to him about that,” said Bourassa. “We’ll see what would be their answer about those recommendations in that order.”

-With files from The Canadian Press