Federal Court says RCMP must hand over lawyers in “Terror Case” – Client Information
Federal court said the RCMP had to hand over the attorney-client information to the country's National Security Review Agency, allowing for a long-term review of whether the Mounties improperly sentenced Canada to convicted cases, the committee acted for planning ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the United States.
The case centers on the complaints of Osama Bahnasawy, father of Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy, who claims the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) played a role in his son and is now serving decades in the U.S.’s highest security prison.
The FBI arrested El Bahnasawy, then 18, at a hotel in New York in May 2016, with the help of the RCMP.
The defense argued that the agent encouraged El Bahnasawy to plan the attack, and prosecutors insisted that the plot was kept going before the two were linked.
El Bahnasawy pleaded guilty to terrorist charges related to the conspiracy and was sentenced to 40 years in federal court in Manhattan in 2018.
But the family raised concerns about the role of the RCMP. They claimed that despite his age and mental health challenges, the Mounted Police teams remained unintervented while El Bahnasawy was still in Canada and allowed him to be arrested and prosecuted in a system with fewer protections for mentally ill people in the United States.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police acted sincerely, and the findings were incomplete: Review
The family’s complaint landed in 2020 with the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA). After years of pandemic-related delays, a review led by Vice Chairman Craig Forcese found that the RCMP acted in “good faith” based on reliable evidence.
But Forcese also highlighted that his findings were incomplete and that the review remains open as the RCMP declined to disclose the legal advice it sought, if any.
He wrote: “This is regrettable because it will inevitably contribute to the complainant's suspicion of the actions of the RCMP.”
NSIRA seeks subpoena to force RCMP to disclose attorney-client information and trigger a hearing in federal court.
The RCMP and Attorney General believes that the NSIRA Act does not have the right to obtain information about the lawyers-client information-Judge John Norris dismissed the argument.
“To fully understand and evaluate the RCMP decision on Abdulrahman's national security investigation, it is necessary to know what legal advice they seek and if it is provided, whether the advice was followed.”
Justice continues to say that it is “completely counterintuitive” for those who think Parliament creates Nsira and intends to give it less Access to relevant information than its former Security Intelligence Review Board.
“this [attorney general] “No reason can be raised,” Norris wrote.
“I think it's extremely unlikely that this is the intention of the parliament.”
It's a twisted story about how a Canadian was captured by the FBI terrorism sting, despite having no history of violence and no criminal record. So how did the 18-year-old Canadian, 20, finally plan to bomb the New York subway system and cause fatal damage in Times Square? CBC News talks with the man’s parents in an exclusive radio interview to find out what led to Abdulrahman El Bahnasawy
Speaking to the family, attorney John Phillips called the RCMP refusal to cooperate “shameful” and “unjust”.
“If they have anything to hide, that’s a real problem. If not, [lack of] Cooperation itself is a problem,” he said.
He added that for a family, struggling for years in court litigation to get information from the start was “very troublesome”.
The RCMP did not respond to comments requesting a deadline for CBC News.
Nsira will not comment further on its review, saying all investigations “must be conducted privately.”
