A Calgary man accused of spending a year fighting for ISIS in Syria should have all of his terrorism charges dropped because it's taken too long to get to trial, says his lawyer.Calgarian Jamal Borhot is charged with terrorism offences stemming from an RCMP investigation that began in 2013. Borhot was charged 7 years later, in 2020. He still has not gone to trial and his lawyer is asking the court to find Borhot's Charter rights have been violated by the extreme delay.
Court documents filed in support of that application outline a 44-month delay from when Borhot was charged to the expected trial conclusion.The Supreme Court of Canada says cases in the provinces' superior courts have 30 months to conclude, otherwise the delay is considered unreasonable and a breach of Charter rights.
"Potential causes of delay to criminal prosecutions in cases involving national security issues are well-known, predictable and avoidable with due diligence from the state actors involved," wrote Milczarek in his application. Borhot is accused of travelling to Syria in 2013 with his cousin Hussein. In 2022, Hussein pleaded guilty to terrorism offences, including kidnapping for a terrorist organization. He was handed a 12-year prison sentence.
Meghan Grant is a justice affairs reporter. She has been covering courts, crime and stories of police accountability in southern Alberta for more than a decade. Send Meghan a story tip at meghan.grant@cbc.ca or follow her on Twitter.Father files appeal in continued effort to prevent daughter's MAID death