MEDIA RELEASE

 

Civil liberties group says verdict raises questions about Canada's 'anti-terror' laws

 

 

TORONTO, Sept. 26 – The Presumption of Innocence Project, a civil liberties group, says that yesterday's guilty verdict in the first test of Canada's anti-terror legislation raises serious questions about the law's threshold for a conviction. In sworn testimony and public statements, the Crown's star witness, Mubin Shaikh, has publicly denied that the youth on trial had any connection to or knowledge of an alleged terror plot. Shaikh, who was paid $300,000 as a police spy, responded to the guilty verdict by re-asserting his belief that the youth is innocent.

 

"If a guilty verdict is possible in spite of Mr. Shaikh's testimony, we worry about what kind of threshold for a conviction is set by Canada's anti-terror laws," says Chantal Sundaram, a spokesperson for the group. "Canadians will be asking whether these laws make it easier to convict, since even the Crown's star witness so publicly undermined the Crown's case."

 

The youth was one of 11 men and boys who still face similar charges. Of the 18 originally charged, seven have had all charges stayed or withdrawn. Despite their innocence, many of the men spent months in solitary confinement, some for over a year, before being released.

 

"Regardless of the outcome of this trial, those still facing charges have the right to be presumed innocent," says Sundaram. "They have the right to due process and a fair trial in a public court of law. We must not respond to yesterday's verdict by assuming the guilt of those who are still awaiting their trials."

 

Three of the men have now been held in solitary confinement at the Don Jail in Toronto for 847 days, well beyond the 30-day maximum suggested by prisoner rights advocates.

 

The Presumption of Innocence Project is a broad-based coalition that supports and defends civil liberties, the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

 

 

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For further information: James Clark, spokesperson, 416-795-5863 (cellular); Chantal Sundaram, spokesperson, 647-223-3902 (cellular)