Plans to behead Canadian PM
2006-06-06 21:40
Brampton - Fifteen Canadian terror suspects arrested over the weekend appeared in court under tight security on Tuesday, as details emerged about their alleged home grown plot.
One defence lawyer told reporters outside the courthouse that his client was accused of plotting to behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The allegations of an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to attack high-profile targets in Ontario, Canada's largest province, has rocked the country, and officials have signalled more arrests are coming.
Fifteen Muslim suspects - 10 adult men and five minors - appeared in the small, packed courtroom in the Toronto suburb of Brampton.
Their lawyers were given an eight-page synopsis of the charges; bail hearings were set for June 12 at the earliest.
Lawyer Gary Batasar, speaking to reporters during a brief break, said the alleged role of his client, Stephen Vikash Chand, 25, had been discussed.
"There's an allegation apparently that my client personally indicated that he wanted to behead the prime minister of Canada," Batasar said.
The synopsis said suspects planned to storm Canada's parliament building and take hostages to demand that Muslim prisoners be freed and that Canada withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Batasar told AFP.
If the demands were not met they would behead the hostages and the prime minister as well, he said.
A plan to storm the offices of Canadian broadcaster CBC to make their demands public was also alleged, according to the lawyer.
Another defence lawyer, Donald McLeod, said concerns were raised about the conditions of the suspects' detention.
"Their charter rights are being violated," said McLeod, who represents Jahmaal James, 23.
"It's 24-hour supervision. What's happening where these young people are concerned is they are not being given the opportunity to speak to family."
Asked whether the prisoners' religious requirements were being met, McLeod said: "They're Muslim and clearly they'd like to be able to pray, to pray as a group.
"We'd like to be able to facilitate that religious freedom that they're entitled to."
"That is one thing that counsel is asking for and the justice inside the court was not able to give a definitive answer where that was concerned."
The 17 suspects were arrested on Friday and Saturday for an alleged al-Qaeda-inspired plot.
Two of the suspects were arrested as they served prison terms for arms trafficking and they did not appear in court.
Court officials said 12 adult suspects had been charged with participating in terrorist activities.
Six of them have been charged with attempting to set off an explosion to kill people and cause serious damage.
The charges against five minors cannot be disclosed under Canadian law.