Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Khurram Syed Sher (centre) leaves court today after being found not guilty. AP
Acquitted

Canadian Idol contestant found not guilty of terrorism charges

The judge found that Khurram Sher, a doctor, had probably had jihadist sympathies, but was not going to join a conspiracy.

A FORMER CANADIAN Idol contestant was acquitted of conspiring to facilitate terrorism today, with the judge finding insufficient evidence that he intended to join a plot.

Khurram Syed Sher, an Ontario doctor whose 2010 arrest got international attention because of his appearance on the contest show, had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Prosecutors had accused Sher of agreeing with two other men to raise money, send money abroad, take paramilitary training, make and use explosives, and scout targets in Canada.

Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland said that while Sher probably harboured jihadist sympathies, he was not convinced the doctor genuinely intended to join a conspiracy.

Prosecutor Jason Wakely said it was the first time someone was found not guilty after going to trial on charges under Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act, which was introduced in 2001 in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, according to prosecutor Jason Wakely. The prosecutor said he was disappointed and an appeal would be considered.

During the investigation, police seized terrorist literature, videos and manuals, along with dozens of electronic circuit boards allegedly designed to detonate homemade bombs remotely.

Sher, 32, has been free on bail for years, under strict conditions.

“It feels great,” he said outside the courthouse after the verdict.

His lawyer, Michael Edelson, said Sher will now focus on rebuilding his life.

“His career has been ended, he’s lost over a million dollars in income, prestige in the community, and it’s been a very, very tough four years,” Edelson said.

His family has left, he’s had reduced access to his children — it’s been tragic.

Sher appeared on the singing-contest show in 2008, singing a comical version of Avril Lavigne’s “Complicated.”

Nick Perreault / YouTube

A graduate of Montreal’s McGill University, the Quebec-born Sher worked as an anatomical pathologist at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital in St. Thomas, Ontario before his arrest.

At the trial, the prosecution cited evidence gathered through wiretaps of phone calls, intercepted emails and covertly installed listening devices.

Prosecutors played six segments of sometimes sketchy audio culled from electronic surveillance of a 20 July 2010, meeting in Ottawa between Sher and the two other men charged in the case. One has been convicted and the other is awaiting trial.

Prosecutors had portrayed the meeting as a pivotal moment for the purported plotters. But Sher’s lawyers characterised the visit as a friendly stopover en route from Montreal to his new job in southern Ontario.

Defence arguments painted Sher as an avid hockey fan who gave thousands of dollars to charity and helped with earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan.

Sher testified that he doesn’t believe in violence, but rather in community service.

Read: New law will make it illegal to recruit or train terrorists > 

Obama: US ‘tortured some folks’ after 9/11, but critics should not be ‘too sanctimonious’ >

Author
Associated Foreign Press
Your Voice
Readers Comments
22
    Submit a report
    Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
    Thank you for the feedback
    Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.