Anti-terror law upheld
Posted Dec 17, 2010 03:32:54 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario’s highest court has rejected arguments that the definition of “terrorist activity” in the Criminal Code is unconstitutional.
In a decision released Friday in the cases of convicted terrorist Momin Khawaja and two men facing extradition, the Court of Appeal for Ontario found that “terrorist activity” is not protected by the charter.
All three men had argued that because the definition required the terrorist conduct be performed for a political, religious or ideological reason, it infringed the charter right to express religious beliefs and political opinions.
The panel of Appeal Court judges upheld the definition, saying that some, if not all, of the conduct involves using violence to convey meaning, which is “destructive of the very values that underlie the right to freedom of expression.”
In their decision the judges say that even if the terrorist activity doesn’t involve violence, it is still contrary to core charter principles.
The judges also increased Khawaja’s sentence of 10 1/2 years to a life sentence, of which he must serve 10 years before he is eligible to apply for parole, the maximum sentence under Canada’s anti-terror laws.
