Among the 18 arrests during the 2006 Toronto terrorism case were five youths whose names could not be published because of the provisions of Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act. One of them had the charges against him dropped nine months after his arrest and two others have been released on bail.

Two of the youths were former Hindus, who converted to Islam, similar to older suspect Steven Vikash Chand who also used to be Hindu.

Nishanthan Yogakrishnan [edit]

Represented by lawyers Mitchell Chernovsky and Faisal Mirza,^[1] the sole youth whose case went to trial was found guilty of conspiracy.^[2]

He had moved to Canada with his family from Sri Lanka in 1994.^[3]

Following the camping trip in Orillia, friends had suggested he should cut off the Prime Minister's head since he had enjoyed chopping wood so much.^[3] Described by Shaikh as "a few fries short of a happy meal", the youth had suggested that the group convert the Aboriginal peoples in Canada to Islam, and then offer them control of Quebec City and Montreal in exchange for killing Quebeckers.^[4]

At the trial, RCMP mole Mubin Shaikh was accused of "confecting evidence" in order to protect the youth by the crown prosecutor who made the rare move of labeling his own witness as hostile.^[5] The youth was accused of shoplifting camping gear from a Canadian Tire, and removing a spy-camera that had been placed outside the ringleader's apartment door by the police.^[6]

He was sentenced to 2 1\2 years which was already served, and released in May 2009 although a DNA sample was taken and he was given 2 years probation and a 10-year prohibition against owning weapons.^[7] The publication ban was lifted after his guilt was determined.

Saad Gaya [edit]

Saad Gaya (born November 17, 1987) was a first generation Canadian of Pakistani descent. A friend of Saad Khalid, Gaya was recruited three months before the arrests and caught with Khalid unloading the ammonium nitrate in a warehouse at the time of his arrest.^[8]

Gaya was underage at the time of his arrest and plead guilty in September 2009 at the age of 21. The court determined that his primary motivation was to convince Canada to pull its soldiers out of Afghanistan as he wanted to protect Muslim nations. Gaya had been selected to drive one of the suicide trucks but maintains that he was not aware of that part of the plan and did not believe anyone would die in the attacks.^[9] He was sentenced to 12 years in prison on January 18, 2010.^[10] Gaya is being held at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario.^[11]

The crown has appealed the sentence hoping for an increase to 17–18 years in prison instead of 12.^[12]

Gaya's Bail Hearing decision, which contains many facts of the case as well as Gaya's admitted involvement, can be viewed at: http://www.canlii.org/en/on/onsc/doc/2008/2008canlii24539/2008canlii24539.html

John Doe #1 [edit]

John Doe #1, who was 15 years old at the time of the arrest, was a Grade 10 student at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute in Toronto. He had converted to Islam from Hinduism several years earlier, upsetting his mother.^[13] He is said to have hung out with 19-year-old Amin Mohamed Durrani. His math textbook was taken by police as evidence.^[14]

Sharing a room with his older brother, he was an avid soccer player, and hoped to grow up to become a veterinarian. He was often mentioning wanting a pet dog. He faked a school outing, as an excuse to attend a survival camp with another of the young offenders. He told his mother that he had nightmares and fears about deserting Islam, concerned that he would go to hell.^[15]

Represented by attorney Michael Block, he was denied bail on June 27, 2006, but was granted bail for C$15,000 on July 16, 2006 in another hearing, and was released to his parents.^[16]

All charges against him were dropped on February 23, 2007.^[17]

John Doe #2 [edit]

John Doe #2, who was 17 at the time of the alleged incident, was a Grade 12 student at Stephen Leacock Collegiate in Toronto. He had recently converted to Islam from Hinduism, which resulted in fights with his parents, and his alleged prayer in secret.^[13] He is said to have hung out with 19-year-old Amin Mohamed Durrani. He was denied bail on June 27, 2007.^[16]

John Doe #3 [edit]

John Doe #3 was also a student at Stephen Leacock Collegiate.

Aabid Khan [edit]

Four days after the Toronto 18 suspects were arrested , Aabid Khan was arrested at London Heathrow Airport as he arrived from a flight from Islamabad as PIA Flight 785 from Pakistan International Airlines.

In August 2008, in London, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempting to incite an act of terrorism. American citizens who are involved in the case are Syed Haris Ahmed and Ehsanul Sadequee were convicted in Atlanta, Georgia and were sentenced to 13 and 17 years respectively on terrorism and conspiracy charges.^[18]

Other information [edit]

All five youths were held at the Maplehurst Correctional Centre in Milton, Ontario, three were released on bail in July 2006. Three youths, it is unclear if they are the same three, had all charges stayed by September 2007.^[19]

References [edit]

v t e 2006 Toronto terrorism case Charges dropped Ahmad Ghany Qayyum Jamal Yasim Mohamed Ibrahim Aboud three young offenders with unreleased names Suspects who were found guilty Nishanthan Yogakrishnan Saad Khalid Saad Gaya Ali Dirie Zakaria Amara Amin Durrani Shareef Abdelhaleem Jahmaal James Fahim Ahmad Steven Chand Asad Ansari American cell Syed Ahmed* Ehsanul Sadequee Defense attorneys Paul Burstein Breese Davies Dennis Edney Anser Farooq Rocco Galati David Kolinsky Donald McLeod David Mercury Faisal Mirza Michael A. Moon Edward Sapiano Paul Slansky Peter Zaduk CSIS informants Mubin Shaikh Shaher Elsohemy Other Unfair Dealing Aabid Khan

v t e People associated with terrorism who have lived in Canada Not pertaining to the War on Terror FLQ Jacques Cossette-Trudel Nigel Hamer Jacques Lanctôt Louise Lanctôt Yves Langlois Bernard Lortie Jacques Rose Paul Rose Francis Simard Air India Flight 182 Ripudaman Singh Malik Ajaib Singh Bagri Talwinder Singh Parmar Inderjit Singh Reyat Surjan Singh Gill Hardial Singh Johal Daljit Sandhu The Squamish Five Ann Hansen Brent Taylor Doug Stewart Juliet Caroline Belmas Gerry Hannah IRA Sean John McCann William James Carson James Murdock Denis Leyne Tamil Tigers Manickavasagam Suresh Loganathan Sabanayagam Kumaravelu Vignarajah Sathajhan Sarachandran Hamas Jamal Akal° Hezbollah Ali Adham Amhaz Fauzi Ayub° Mohammed Hassan Dbouk Mohammed al-Husseini Omar el Sayed Hani al-Sayegh PFLP Mahmoud Mohammad Issam Al Yamani PKK Aynur Saygili 1991 Toronto bomb plot Glenn Neville Ford Mujahideen-e Khalq Robab Farahi-Mahdavieh Effat Nejati Mahnaz Samadi PLO Wahid Khalil Baroud Mahmood Abo Shandi Eco-Terrorism Wiebo Ludwig Millennium Plot Ahmed Ressam† Fateh Kamel° Ahcene Zemiri† Mokhtar Haouari Abdel Hakim Tizegha Abdel Ghani Abdelmajid Dahoumane Other Michelle Duclos° Gazi Ibrihim Abu Mezer Shaun Going Hassan Diab War on Terror al-Jihad Mahmoud Jaballah Essam Marzouk† Mohammad Mahjoub al-Qaeda Mubarak al-Duri Mohammed† and Abdul Rahman Jabarahǂ Mohamedou Ould Slahi Amer el-Maati Raed Hijazi Niser bin Muhammad Nasar Nawar Khadr family Ahmed Khadrǂ and Maha el-Samnah Zaynab Abdullah Abdurahman° Omar† Abdulkareem Afghan Insurgency Ahmed Khadrǂ Mohammed Warsame Iraqi Insurgency Saeed and Masoud Rasoul Abu Abdul Rahman Hassan Farhat Aumar Alsorani Chechnya Rudwan Khalil Abubakerǂ Groupe Islamique Armé Mohamed Harkat Karim Said Atmani° Mourad Ikhlef Toronto 18 Steven Chand Shareef Abdelhaleem Jahmaal James Mohammed Dirie Fahim Ahmad Asad Ansari Zakaria Amara Amin Durrani Saad Khalid a young offender with unreleased name Held at Guantanamo Bay Omar Khadr Abdurahman Khadr° Raouf Hannachi Djamel Ameziane Ahcene Zemiri Mohamedou Ould Slahi Other Abderraouf Jdey Faker Boussora Bashir Makhtal† Kassem Daher° Mustafa Krer Momin Khawaja Amr Hamedǂ Huseyincan Celil† Idriss† Hassan Almrei Assem Hammoud Moussa Mohamed Kalifa Said Namouh Mohammad Ashraf Siddiqui Fahad al-Shehri Tahawwur Hussain Rana Abdelrahman Fakhri Abou el-Ila Cleared of wrongdoing Nageeb al-Hadi Benamar Benatta Abdullah Almalki Maher Arar Arwad al-Boushi Ahmad Abou El-Maati Muayyed Nureddin Abdellah Ouzghar Liban Hussein Qayyum Jamal Yasim Mohamed Ahmad Ghany three young offenders with unreleased names Sohail Qureshi Amine Mezbar 24 Pakistani immigrants Abousfian Abdelrazik Arward Al-Bousha Kassim Mohamed Adil Charkaoui Aabid Khan † denotes currently imprisoned ° denotes legal release after serving a sentence ǂ denotes deceased subjects