First Trial Opens in Canada Terror Case
TORONTO — A teenager charged with plotting terror attacks in Ontario pleaded not guilty to belonging to a terrorist group Tuesday, as some details of an alleged plan to storm Canada’s Parliament emerged publicly for the first time.
The suspect was among 17 people arrested in June 2006 after they allegedly tried to obtain three tons of ammonium nitrate, an explosive material commonly used in fertilizer. Officials accused the suspects of plotting attacks and said they were inspired by al-Qaida.
One defense lawyer has said his client and some of the other suspects were charged with plotting to attack Canada’s Parliament, take hostages and possibly behead the prime minister if their demands for the release of Muslim prisoners were not met.
The teenager, the first of the 17 to go on trial, is charged with participating in and contributing to the activity of a terrorist group. He was 18 at the time of his arrest.
The government will present evidence that proves the youth attended a training camp where he participated in military exercises and firearms training, prosecution attorney Marco Mendicino said.
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