OTTAWA — Two terrorism suspects were quiet throughout a brief appearance at the provincial courthouse Thursday as the spectre of homegrown radicals hovered over the suburbs of Canada’s capital city.
Hiva Alizadeh of Ottawa faces charges of conspiracy, committing an act for terrorism purposes and providing or making available property for terrorism purposes.
Misbahuddin Ahmed of Ottawa is facing conspiracy and terrorism-related charges.
Ahmed’s lawyer, Ian Carter, said the charges were serious and his client, a husband and father, could be put away “for a long time.”
“He is in shock. That’s all I can say,” said Carter.
Sean May, Alizadeh’s lawyer, said his client “seems to be taking the matter seriously and obviously very concerned about it.”
“They are very serious charges, no question about that. They are the most serious charges you can face except for a murder charge.”
Tall and slender with square glasses, the bearded Alizadeh wore a checked dress shirt, dark pants and a brown cap. Ahmed, also bearded, wore a white shirt with brown swirl graphic by his right hip.
A judge remanded them in custody until they appear again, by video, next Wednesday.
RCMP have said more arrests are likely and had called a news conference to discuss the matter later in the day.
The pair were taken into custody Wednesday after residents awoke to a clutch of police cars gathered outside a townhouse in Ottawa’s west-end Carlingwood area.
A neighbour said a couple had been living at the property with young children for at least six months.
Police were refusing to divulge further details.
Matthew Weiler is a gardener who lives next door to the townhouse where the arrests took place about 10 kilometres west of Parliament Hill. He arose early Wednesday for a dental appointment to see eight or nine Ottawa police and RCMP cruisers on the street.
Weiler said he didn’t know the man, who had a full beard and appeared around 30, nor his wife, who was usually veiled in public.
“I’m not that shocked. It’s got to be somewhere, I guess,” Weiler said in an interview.
“I’m not too worried. They wouldn’t do anything at their own home.”
Carolina Ayala, who lives four doors down from the couple, said she saw the man wearing blue hospital scrubs and thinks he may have worked at a hospital.
When she saw police cars in front of the home early Wednesday, Ayala’s first thought was a possible case of domestic violence.
“My husband has heard them screaming before,” Ayala said. “I thought there was somebody hitting somebody but then when I saw the RCMP I knew that it was something different.”
The Mounties provided no details on the identity of the suspects, nor did they specify what the allegations are, other than to call them “in relation to terrorist offences.”
A few kilometres away, a police car sat outside an apartment building Wednesday afternoon where a second raid was carried out.
Ottawa lawyer Samir Adam said he was contacted by a man arrested Wednesday, but had not yet been retained as counsel and therefore could not discuss details.
Adam got the impression from police “it’s a larger operation” involving a number of people. “How many? I don’t know.”
The Muslim Canadian Congress commended the RCMP.
“But we hope that the accused will be tried with due process, the presumption of innocence, and with full guarantees that their constitutional rights will be protected,” said Salma Siddiqui, the group’s vice-president.
She expressed dismay at the possibility an al-Qaida-inspired terrorist plot was being hatched in Canada’s capital. “It’s very frustrating and quite disappointing.”
The arrests come four years after apprehension of extremist plotters in the so-called Toronto 18 case, and the 2008 conviction of Momin Khawaja of Ottawa on several terrorism-related charges.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Dick Fadden alluded to the possibility of other homegrown terrorist cases in comments to the Commons public safety committee last month.
“We have had very clear evidence in this country that there have been terrorists seeking to do harm. The Toronto 18 are a clear example. We’re monitoring a number of other cases in which we think there may be similar circumstances,” Fadden said.
“Do I think that everybody needs to go to their basement with an 18-day supply of food? Absolutely not. My point in raising this was simply to say that Canadians will need to know this. I think if Canadians know about this kind of threat they will be inclined to let us know if they find anything that’s worrisome.”
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Wednesday he could not provide any details about the arrests.
“Our government monitors national security concerns and is vigilant in protecting against any threats.”
In summer 2006 the issue of homegrown terrorism came to the fore in Canada when 18 men and boys in the Toronto area were rounded up and charged with terrorism offences.
The group, comprised mostly of young men from middle class families, was quickly dubbed the Toronto 18, though there were actually two separate plots that formed after one of the ringleaders became frustrated with the other’s inaction.
One group plotted to detonate trucks bombs outside the CSIS offices in Toronto, the Toronto Stock Exchange and an Ontario military base. The other group wanted to storm Parliament and attack electrical grids and nuclear stations.
Of the 18 arrested, charges were dropped or stayed against seven people, seven others pleaded guilty and four were found guilty after trials. Three of those convicted have already been released from prison.
Other than the so-called Toronto 18, few people have been prosecuted under Canada’s anti-terrorism provisions.
Khawaja was sentenced last year to 10 1/2 years behind bars. He was convicted of five terrorism charges for training at a remote camp in Pakistan and providing cash and other help to British terrorists. He was also found guilty of two Criminal Code offences related to building a remote-control device to set off explosions.
Said Namouh was convicted in Montreal of plotting international terrorist attacks with a group tied to al-Qaida. Namouh, who spread jihadist propaganda on the Internet and had visions of martyrdom, received a life sentence and will not be eligible for parole for at least 10 years.