A Calgary man facing terrorism charges has tried to deny the case

A Calgary man accused of traveling to Syria to fight with ISIS is trying to have his terrorism charges dropped as the case drags on to trial.

During Monday's hearing, Judge Corina Dario heard a plea to drop all charges against Jamal Borhot, 34, of Jordan, who sat silently in court wearing a jacket and checkered shirt.

Borkhot was indicted in 2020 on three counts of participating in the activities of a terrorist group and is accused of traveling to Syria to carry out terrorist activities with the Islamic State in 2013 and 2014.

Defense attorney Pawel Milczarek said at the hearing that the deadline set by the Supreme Court of Canada had been exceeded and the case against his client should be dismissed.

Supreme Court of 2016 R. According to the decision in v. Jordan – known as the “Jordan decision” – trials must be heard within 30 months of a charge being brought in a provincial superior court, such as the Alberta Crown Court.

Charter's complaint alleges that Borhot's right to a timely trial was violated, citing the 44-month, eight-day delay between Borhot's September 2020 indictment and the anticipated final court date of May 31, 2024.

Crown prosecutors say the delays are a result of the defense and say the case has dragged on for nearly 17 months.

Domenic Puglia told the court that while Dario disagreed with their calculations, he was asking for Jordan's request to be dismissed due to the unique circumstances of the complex national security case.

Kelly Sundberg, a criminologist and associate professor of economics, justice and political science at Mount Royal University, said these cases are difficult to prosecute because the alleged crimes took place overseas.

“This is a man accused of fighting, supporting membership and fighting with Daesh, a terrorist organization operating in a very remote and inaccessible region,” he said.

“So the evidence, the witnesses, all the components of this matter are very difficult to prove, let alone present in court.”

Sundberg said that on a larger scale, the case highlights a flaw in Canada's ability to prosecute Canadians who go abroad to fight terrorist organizations.

“The Canadian government has done very little to respond meaningfully to foreign fighters. This is a critical national security issue for our country. We've seen a radical response to the challenges of increasing Canada's ability to fight terrorism. Foreign fighters returned to Canada,” he said.

“So this is a very important matter. It reveals what happened and what the dangers are in the future, as well as how many people in Canada went to fight terrorists and are now back in Canada. and living in our communities is the reality we live in today.

Borhot's mother remained in court for most of the hearing but declined to comment on the case or her son.

Borhot's co-accused and cousin Husein Borhot was sentenced to 12 years in prison in a separate trial in May 2022.