Some of the suspects charged in Canada's most high-profile terrorism case are innocent and should be released, according to a key RCMP informant and prosecution witness.
"[I'd like to see] for those who are responsible, those who are of a significant and serious threat ... it's important they face the consequences of their actions, and that those who are not guilty be released sooner rather than later," Mubin Shaikh said in an interview yesterday.
Mr. Shaikh, whose work as an informant played a pivotal role in an investigation that led to terrorism charges against 18 Toronto-area suspects last summer, pointed specifically to one of the accused, Steven Chand, as being innocent. Mr. Shaikh also said he had seen no evidence suggesting another suspect, Jamal James, had done anything wrong.
Mr. Shaikh's position poses a unique dilemma for the prosecution in the terrorism trial, as the informant's testimony will likely be key in building a case against some of the accused. He made his comments yesterday in an interview at a northwest Toronto courthouse. The RCMP informant was in court on assault charges related to an April 3 incident involving two Grade 7 schoolgirls near Kane Middle School in Etobicoke.
The assault charges have not been proved in court and are unrelated to the terrorism case. "It has no relevance to the other case," he said, adding that the schoolgirls initiated the incident by making offensive remarks about his appearance.
Mr. Shaikh, who has a long beard and wears traditional Islamic dress, said some schoolchildren passing by his father's home in Etobicoke began calling him "Osama Bin Laden" and "Taliban boy." When the school kids got closer to the home, he said he approached them, at which point they ran away. As she was running, one of the girls tripped and fell, Mr. Shaikh said, adding that at no point did he touch any of the schoolgirls. The girls' story, he said, is fabricated and "exaggerated grotesquely."
Taliban boy and Osama Bin Laden Look-alike Mubin Shaikh has never been an inspiring choice. I realize that in the world of informants the pickings are slim but Taliban Boy Mubin is clearly the bottom of the barrel.
Bet those Grade 7 girls would have whooped his sorry ass too......
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