VZCZCXRO7948
OO RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0198 0711854
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 121854Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9207
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1013

UNCLAS OTTAWA 000198 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PGOV CA
SUBJECT: FIRST SENTENCING IN TERRORIST TRIAL 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On March 13, an Ontario Superior Court judge 
sentenced convicted Canadian terrorist Momin Khawaja to 
ten-and-a-half years in prison on terrorism-related charges, with no 
eligibility for parole for five years.  Khawaja was the first 
Canadian to be charged under Canada's 2001 Anti-terrorism Act and is 
the first to receive a sentence under the Act in this landmark 
terror case.  Separately, the government has just re-introduced 
amendments to the Act in the 40th Parliament to restore certain 
anti-terrorism powers that had lapsed in 2007; proposed legislation 
to reinstate them had died with the dissolution of the 39th 
Parliament in September 2008.  End summary. 
 
 
¶2. (U) Canadian authorities arrested Momin Khawaja in March 2004 in 
connection with a U.K-based terror conspiracy to attack targets in 
London.  The Crown convicted him in October 2008 on charges of 
participating in terrorist training, financing, and facilitating 
terrorism under the 2001 Anti-terrorism Act, as well as two charges 
under the Criminal Code for offences related to building a 
remote-controlled device to detonate explosives.  Khawaja had pled 
not guilty to the charges.  Khawaja's four-month landmark trial took 
place between June 23 and October 30, 2008.  He has already spent 
almost five years in custody, most of which was consumed by 
pre-trial constitutional and challenges to the untested 
Anti-terrorism Act. 
 
¶3. (U) In pre-sentencing hearings, Khawaja's lawyer argued that his 
client should receive a maximum of 7-and-a-half years and should 
serve only a symbolic one more day behind bars.  (Offenders in 
Canada usually receive double credit for time served.)  The Crown 
instead asked for two life sentences, plus an additional forty-four 
to fifty-eight years in prison, with ten years before parole 
eligibility. 
 
¶4. (U) Justice Douglas Rutherford handed down a ten-and-a-half-year 
sentence (in addition to the five years already served), with 
eligibility for parole after five years.  Justice Rutherford noted 
that Khawaja's decision not to address the court made it hard to 
determine whether he had any remorse for his actions.  However, he 
underscored that, in determining the penalty, "we must jealously 
guard our independence and freedom here in Canada and we must 
strongly repudiate what underlines our core values."  Defense and 
Crown lawyers in the case expressed disappointment with the sentence 
immediately and signaled that each side would likely appeal the 
sentence. 
 
¶5. (U) In a separate terror case, a Toronto youth is awaiting 
sentencing following his conviction in September 2008 under the 
Anti-terrorism Act for his role in the so-called Toronto-18 case. 
 
 
Amending the Act 
---------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The Khawaja sentencing came the same day that the government 
reintroduced a bill to amend the 2001 Anti-terrorism Act.  A 
previous bill had passed the Senate, but not the House of Commons, 
when the 39th Parliament dissolved for the October 2008 federal 
election.  The bill would reinstate two provisions that had lapsed 
under sunset conditions in 2007 -- giving police the powers of 
preventative arrest and the ability to compel witnesses to testify 
at investigative hearings into terror offences that have occurred or 
may be imminent.  These powers would be subject to a five-year 
sunset provision. 
 
¶7.  (U)  Neither the then-Liberal government nor the current 
Conservative government had ever made use of these provisions while 
they were on the books between 2002 and 2007.  However, Justice 
Minister Rob Nicholson insisted in a statement accompanying the 
bill's release that not having them available for use "creates a 
Qbill's release that not having them available for use "creates a 
serious gap in Canadian law."  He underscored that, in seeking their 
reinstatement, "the Government is demonstrating its continued 
commitment to safeguarding our national security." 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to Conservative MPs on the Commons' Standing 
Committee on Public Safety and National Security (which is likely to 
examine the bill in the Commons), it is "too early to tell" how the 
opposition parties will view the bill.  The Liberal official 
opposition under then-leader Stephane Dion had blocked the renewal 
of these powers in the Commons in 2007.  However, the 
Liberal-dominated Senate subsequently passed the previous proposed 
legislation to reinstate them in March 2008.  The MPs also 
underscored that the composition of the Commons had changed since 
the election (including the loss of some veteran Liberals who had 
favored robust anti-terror initiatives) and that, in their opinion, 
it had become a "little more left."  However, they noted that 
Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff was "flexible" and has a record in 
his life before politics of supporting robust anti-terrorism 
measures. 
BREESE