From the Toronto Star.
A Mississauga man who pleaded guilty to belonging to a homegrown terror cell plotting to detonate truck bombs in downtown Toronto told a court yesterday he is “not a lunatic who is hell bent on the destruction of western civilization.”
Saad Khalid, a member of the so-called Toronto 18, said he made a “huge mistake and not a day passes by that I am not filled with regret for my role in this despicable crime.”
“I never wanted to hurt anybody,” said Khalid, 23, while reading a prepared statement at the start of his sentencing hearing.
Khalid, who has been in jail since his arrest in June 2006, told the Brampton court he was motivated to get involved with the group because he disagreed with Canada’s military presence in Afghanistan.
He asked Superior Court Justice Bruce Durno for a “second chance,” explaining that while in jail he has studied Islam and consulted with imams and now understands the errors of his way.
Defence lawyer Russell Silverstein suggested Khalid be given a 10-year sentence and extra credit for time served, including 15 months in solitary confinement.
Crown prosecutor Croft Michaelson said a more appropriate sentence is 18 to 20 years, with eligibility for parole after serving half of his sentence.
Khalid is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 3.
Prison makes everyone “sorry”. He objected to our government’s mission in Afghanistan and would have put innocent peoples lives at risk for a political statement. He has earned his sentence and I applaud this judge’s decision. If there is true justice in Canada he will be middle aged before he is released. To hell with the lot of them.
There isn’t a prison inmate who either isn’t ‘sorry’ or who claims innocence. I especially like the part of this story where he claims that while being in the clink he has studied Islam, consulted with Imams and has learned the errs of his ways. What errs? that the mission was not a success? These guys are all the same; they cry a soggy river or insist that their incarceration is the result of racial profiling, discrimination or racism. To hell with the lot of them indeed.