Convicting Khawaja could reward Sept. 11 attackers: defence

Mohammad Momin Khawaja's lawyer says the al-Qaeda operatives involved in the Sept.11, 2001 attacks will triumph if his client is convicted of terrorism charges on the basis of mere rhetoric or guilt by association.

Lawrence Greenspon told Khawaja's trial, which wrapped up Friday, that Canadian anti-terrorism laws passed following the attacks on New York and Washington seven years ago must be applied in a fair and just way.

"But if the application of those new laws was permitted to take place in a manner which was contrary to any of the principles of fundamental justice, then those who orchestrated 9/11 will have achieved some measure of victory," he said during the Ontario Superior Court proceedings.

In his concluding arguments, Greenspon acknowledged an October 2003 e-mail from Khawaja to his then-fiancée in which the Ottawa software developer expressed approval of the Sept. 11 attacks.   

But he said Khawaja cannot be found guilty simply for his views or the company he keeps.

"If this court permits colourful name-calling and rhetoric to take the place of evidence, or if this court allows guilt to be established by association rather than by proof of actions and knowledge, then the impact of planes hitting the towers will be multiplied, as the principles which define our society will have also suffered crippling blows."

Khawaja, arrested four years ago in Ottawa, faces seven charges of financing and facilitating terrorism. They include the key accusation he built a remote-control device, dubbed the Hi-Fi Digimonster, to trigger blasts planned by Islamic extremists in the United Kingdom using large quantities of fertilizer.

Khawaja, 29, pleaded not guilty to the charges and was tried without a jury.

Greenspon asked Justice Douglas Rutherford to dismiss all charges but one — possession of an explosive device, the Digimonster trigger.

Rutherford said he would deliver his ruling Oct. 29.  

Greenspon told the judge there is no evidence his client had specific knowledge of the British fertilizer bomb plot he is supposed to have helped plan. Rather, Greenspon argued, Khawaja was an angry young Muslim who wanted to join insurgents on the battlefields of Afghanistan.

Five alleged collaborators, including ringleader Omar Khyam, were convicted in London last year.   

Greenspon contends Khyam and others deliberately withheld information about the bomb plot from Khawaja, discussing details of the scheme only in his absence.

Trigger found in raid

The RCMP say they found the Digimonster in a 2004 raid on the Khawaja family home in suburban east Ottawa along with enough components to suggest Khawaja may have been planning to build more devices.

Evidence gathered by the British intelligence agency MI-5 indicated Khawaja visited people involved in the U.K. plot and discussed remote-control technology with them.

Greenspon concedes that in addition to possessing the Digimonster, Khawaja trained at a remote camp in Pakistan, gave money to an Ottawa woman for use abroad, and spoke with various individuals in London.

But he says all of this was intended to further Khawaja's goals of assisting and fighting alongside militants in Afghanistan — not to attack civilians in Britain.

Earlier this week, Rutherford rejected Greenspon's motion to toss out the case for lack of evidence. In his reasons, the judge rejected the argument that Khawaja's activities fall within the scope of armed conflict, not terrorist activity. Neither Khawaja nor his associates were soldiers or part of an armed force, the judge said.

However, Greenspon insisted the Crown was asking Rutherford to "turn militarism into terrorism."

He argued the Oct. 24, 2003 e-mail in which Khawaja expressed support for the 9/11 assaults and stressed the need for waves of jihad against Western economic interests cannot be equated with involvement in the U.K. plot: "While it may have been his thoughts, it did not represent his intention."