National security concerns delay case of Montreal teen facing terrorism-related charges

The case of the 17-year-old Montrealer who had allegedly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and was allegedly ready to carry out at least one attack on behalf of the terrorist group – is being delayed until December because of evidence that could pose a threat to national security.

The teenager is facing five charges in total, three of them terrorism-related that include facilitating a terrorist activity, participating in the activity of a terrorist group and providing or making available property or services for terrorist purposes. 

On Tuesday, the federal Crown prosecutor in the case, Marc Cigana, revealed that the Attorney General of Canada informed him that certain evidence could not be shared with the defence at this time until a federal court determines if it must be withheld because it poses a threat to national security, national defence or international relations. 

“The Attorney General is claiming privilege under Section 38 of the Canada Evidence Act over certain evidence that is relevant but is not to be disclosed until the federal court decides whether it should or not be disclosed,” said Marc Cigana, the Federal Crown prosecutor.

Without this evidence that is not being disclosed, the defence says that it cannot proceed with the trial, so a new court date of Dec. 18 has been set to get an update on whether this evidence can be shared. The teen will remain detained until his next court appearance.

“It can abort the trial altogether if there’s no, if this evidence cannot be given to the defence and this individual cannot defend himself, well, it’s an application for a judge to drop the whole case. And sometimes even if this information is too sensitive, and it’s the Crown or the Attorney General [who] do not want this information to come out at all, but it is necessary for the individual to defend himself, they might just choose to just not continue to prosecute the case,” said Kwadwo Yeboah, a Montreal criminal defence lawyer.

“It’s the client’s constitutional right to know and have all the evidence they have against them.”

“The court will balance all those issues and the court will decide, so it’s not a question of a mistrial. The court will decide whether or not to disclose. The law provides that if a court is of the opinion that the trial would be unfair, the court could even go as far as to stay the proceedings, but of course, that’s very premature. Now we’re going to wait for the court, federal court, to do its work and decide what, if anything, could be disclosed,” said Cigana.

In court, the 17-year-old wore a long-sleeved black shirt; he was not handcuffed, and his mother was also present. 

The youth was arrested on Aug. 20 in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges–NDG borough. 

“As you heard defence counsel, he’s taken the position that the case cannot really advance in a meaningful way until he has the answer from the federal court, that’s why the case has been postponed to be spoken to and not to proceed. On December 18th, hopefully by then we will know when the federal court hearing will take place,” said Cigana.

The teen also faces two other charges that include assaulting a police officer and assault with a weapon causing bodily harm. 

The crown has already filed notice to seek an adult sentence if the teenager is found guilty.