First conviction under Canada's anti-terrorism law Momin Khawaja, the first person to be sentenced under Canada's anti-terrorism law, was a determined Islamic jihadist who has shown no remorse, Justice Douglas Rutherford said yesterday as he handed the convicted terrorist 10 1/2 years in prison.
Acknowledging the historic moment, Rutherford said he wanted to send a message that terrorism in Canada won't be tolerated, but at least one expert said the judge failed by not handing out at least one life sentence to the Ottawa software developer. The Ottawa-born Khawaja, 29, has already spent five years behind bars, and must serve five years before he is eligible for parole.
"Momin Khawaja was clearly aware and knowledgeable of some of the terrorist activities," the judge said, pointing to Khawaja's association with internationally known Islamic terrorists, his work on remote-control detonating devices, his eager involvement in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and his role in directly and indirectly financing terrorism from 2002 to 2004. Khawaja was the first person to be charged under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act, pushed through Parliament following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Khawaja, a former contract federal government employee, was convicted in the fall of five counts of financing and facilitating terrorism for providing cash to a group of British extremists, offering them lodging and other assistance, and undergoing training at the remote camp in Pakistan. He was also found guilty of two criminal offences related to building a remote-control device, known as the Hi-Fi Digimonster, meant to detonate bombs. Five associates of Khawaja, including bomb-plot ringleader Omar Khyam, were sentenced to prison in 2007 after being convicted in London of a foiled plot to target a nightclub, a construction firm, and gas, water and power utilities.
Rutherford told the court that Khawaja's activities were "directed at assisting his terrorist associates in a way that could only result in serious injury, death and destruction." Not once during his 27-day trial did Khawaja indicate he was "repentant for his misdeeds or willing to make amends," Rutherford said.
Even so, the judge ruled out a sentence of life in prison, saying he didn't consider Khawaja in the same league as the London bomb plotters, who were sentenced to life in jail. Rutherford added the sentence would have been longer if not for the glimmer of hope that Khawaja could be rehabilitated. The judge also took into account the fact Khawaja has been held in custody since his arrest by RCMP on March 29, 2004, at his home in Orleans.
The defence and Crown each said they are considering appealing the sentence. "That is a very severe and potentially appealable sentence," said Khawaja's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, who had asked that the sentence be limited to time already served.
Prosecutor David McKercher said the sentence was "less than the Crown was asking for" and that his team would consider the decision carefully" before deciding whether to appeal. McKercher had been seeking two life sentences, with an additional 44 to 58 years in prison. Greenspon accused the Crown of "creating an unrealistic expectation" among the public by asking for such a harsh sentence.
Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto professor who specializes in anti-terrorism issues, said Rutherford seemed to contradict himself when he repeatedly reinforced the seriousness of what Khawaja did, and then handed him a relatively light sentence, including three-month sentences for two of the terror-related charges. "The terrorism act, I think, has passed its test as an act," Wark said. "It works (because) Mr. Khawaja was convicted, but I think the real question at issue today was how to reach appropriate sentences for those people convicted.
"From my perspective the surprising thing is that Mr. Khawaja comes away with a relatively light sentence ... and certainly my expectation was that he would face at least one life sentence," Wark said.