Fahim Ahmad, ringleader of the Toronto 18 terror cell, will be sentenced Monday.
Fahim Ahmad, ringleader of the Toronto 18 terror cell, will be sentenced Monday.
Fahim Ahmad was an average teen who worked at Harvey’s and had a penchant for sports, movies and chasing girls. But after Sept. 11, “everything changed,” he says.
Questions surfaced about his Islamic faith, which he rarely practised, and of his homeland, Afghanistan, which he barely remembered.
His parents juggled multiple jobs and were rarely home, so Ahmad turned to a Mississauga mosque for the answers, seeking out those with the longest beards and largest turbans, signs of “knowledge and devotion.”
He became increasingly religious, often surfing Islamist websites where Muslim teens “feeling similar alienation from school and society” talked of violent jihad.
Increasingly fanatic, he followed a downward spiral that culminated with his arrest in June 2006 for being the ringleader of a homegrown terror cell, the so-called Toronto 18.
In a six-page letter to Justice Fletcher Dawson, who will sentence Ahmad on Monday, the 26-year-old says he had fallen into a “fantasy world” and “never intended to harm anyone” when he plotted a series of attacks, including the storming of Parliament Hill.
The document was among nine letters, written by family and friends, asking the court to show leniency, saying Ahmad has abandoned his violent views. Even Mubin Shaikh, an undercover police agent who infiltrated the group and testified against Ahmad, wrote to the judge and described Ahmad as someone who “talked a big game but was short on actions.”
According to a psychological report, submitted by the defence, Dr. Julian Gojer says Ahmad “wishes to make amends for his actions by counseling youth who may be misled like him.”
“He appears to recognize how he allowed his mind to be influenced by religious individuals and that he failed to examine carefully how religious texts were misinterpreted for him,” wrote the psychiatrist.
In his letter to the judge, Ahmad explains the profound influence religious leaders had on him.
He was told the western educational system was sinful, so he dropped out of school. He was told it was wrong to hang out with girls, so at 18 he married a 16-year-old from Scarborough who he had met online. (They met in person on their wedding day.) He was told it was sinful to live in a home purchased with an interest-based mortgage, so at 19 he moved out from his parents’ home. And he was told it was unlawful to use contraceptives so he became a father at age 20.
The mosque was a place where Ahmad says he could “vent and be someone else.”
“It was a place where I would get attention from both my elders and my peers,” wrote Ahmad. “It was where I could be larger than life and not hear a word of criticism. I would say things, often terrible things, that I felt would get me attention.”
Ahmad certainly got the attention of authorities. He organized two training camps to weed out potential recruits for a series of attacks, which he planned in retaliation for Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan.
His No. 2 guy, Zakaria Amara, didn’t think Ahmad was serious enough so he pulled away and formed a splinter group, which planned to detonate fertilizer truck bombs in downtown Toronto. (Amara was sentenced to life in prison. That sentence is under appeal.)
Midway through his trial, Ahmad pleaded guilty to participating in a terrorist group, importing firearms for the group and instructing his co-accused to carry out an activity for a terrorist group.
Prosecutors have said an appropriate starting point for such an offence is life in prison. But, they have suggested a lesser sentence of 18 years for Ahmad, given mitigating factors such as his guilty plea, support from family, renunciation of violent views and his status as a youthful first-time offender. Meanwhile, the defence has suggested a sentence of 10-12 years, saying Ahmad was a “sad and pathetic young man,” who was a “wannabe” with “grandiose ideas.”
Fahim Ahmad, ringleader of the Toronto 18 terror cell, will be sentenced Monday.
Fahim Ahmad was an average teen who worked at Harvey’s and had a penchant for sports, movies and chasing girls. But after Sept. 11, “everything changed,” he says.
Questions surfaced about his Islamic faith, which he rarely practised, and of his homeland, Afghanistan, which he barely remembered.
His parents juggled multiple jobs and were rarely home, so Ahmad turned to a Mississauga mosque for the answers, seeking out those with the longest beards and largest turbans, signs of “knowledge and devotion.”
He became increasingly religious, often surfing Islamist websites where Muslim teens “feeling similar alienation from school and society” talked of violent jihad.
Increasingly fanatic, he followed a downward spiral that culminated with his arrest in June 2006 for being the ringleader of a homegrown terror cell, the so-called Toronto 18.
In a six-page letter to Justice Fletcher Dawson, who will sentence Ahmad on Monday, the 26-year-old says he had fallen into a “fantasy world” and “never intended to harm anyone” when he plotted a series of attacks, including the storming of Parliament Hill.
The document was among nine letters, written by family and friends, asking the court to show leniency, saying Ahmad has abandoned his violent views. Even Mubin Shaikh, an undercover police agent who infiltrated the group and testified against Ahmad, wrote to the judge and described Ahmad as someone who “talked a big game but was short on actions.”
According to a psychological report, submitted by the defence, Dr. Julian Gojer says Ahmad “wishes to make amends for his actions by counseling youth who may be misled like him.”
“He appears to recognize how he allowed his mind to be influenced by religious individuals and that he failed to examine carefully how religious texts were misinterpreted for him,” wrote the psychiatrist.
In his letter to the judge, Ahmad explains the profound influence religious leaders had on him.
He was told the western educational system was sinful, so he dropped out of school. He was told it was wrong to hang out with girls, so at 18 he married a 16-year-old from Scarborough who he had met online. (They met in person on their wedding day.) He was told it was sinful to live in a home purchased with an interest-based mortgage, so at 19 he moved out from his parents’ home. And he was told it was unlawful to use contraceptives so he became a father at age 20.
The mosque was a place where Ahmad says he could “vent and be someone else.”
“It was a place where I would get attention from both my elders and my peers,” wrote Ahmad. “It was where I could be larger than life and not hear a word of criticism. I would say things, often terrible things, that I felt would get me attention.”
Ahmad certainly got the attention of authorities. He organized two training camps to weed out potential recruits for a series of attacks, which he planned in retaliation for Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan.
His No. 2 guy, Zakaria Amara, didn’t think Ahmad was serious enough so he pulled away and formed a splinter group, which planned to detonate fertilizer truck bombs in downtown Toronto. (Amara was sentenced to life in prison. That sentence is under appeal.)
Midway through his trial, Ahmad pleaded guilty to participating in a terrorist group, importing firearms for the group and instructing his co-accused to carry out an activity for a terrorist group.
Prosecutors have said an appropriate starting point for such an offence is life in prison. But, they have suggested a lesser sentence of 18 years for Ahmad, given mitigating factors such as his guilty plea, support from family, renunciation of violent views and his status as a youthful first-time offender. Meanwhile, the defence has suggested a sentence of 10-12 years, saying Ahmad was a “sad and pathetic young man,” who was a “wannabe” with “grandiose ideas.”
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