VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man alleging he was entrapped by undercover Mounties into plotting to bomb the provincial legislature begged for spiritual guidance months before the attack was to take place, a court has heard.
John Nuttall pleaded with an undercover officer on multiple occasions in May 2013 for a “brother” to answer his questions, including whether Islam permits the killing of innocent people, B.C. Supreme Court was told on Wednesday.
The officer, who was posing as a jihadi extremist, rebuffed the requests by saying it was up to Nuttall to decide to follow through with his plan — at that point involving a rocket attack, according to transcripts read in court.
Nuttall and his wife, Amanda Korody, were found guilty last month of planning to detonate homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the B.C. legislature on Canada Day in 2013.
Their lawyers are arguing in court the pair was manipulated — that they feared they would be killed by officers posing as al-Qaida agents if they didn’t follow through with a terrorist attack.
A Mountie responsible for training undercover officers to pass as jihadi extremists told court the operation’s commander emailed him in May 2013 to ask if he would pose as an imam.
RCMP Const. Tarek Mokdad said he called the commander, Sgt. Bill Kalkat, soon after to refuse the request because he didn’t have the skill to interpret the Qur’an the way a spiritual leader does.
“If you want me to play a jihadist, sure. If you want me to play an imam, no,” Mokdad recalled saying.
In response to questions from Nuttall’s lawyer, Marilyn Sandford, Mokdad said he now guesses the email was connected to Nuttall’s pleas a few days earlier for spiritual guidance.
Nuttall, a recent convert to Islam and recovering heroin addict, did not drop the idea of speaking with an imam. Later that month he raised the topic again with the undercover Mountie.
“I need spiritual guidance,” states the transcript of Nuttall’s audio. “It’s going to tell me what’s allowed and what’s accepted. This is my soul we’re talking about. This is my wife’s soul ... If Allah doesn’t permit killing civilians, then I’m going to go to hellfire.”
The officer responds that if he doesn’t want to follow through with the attack, then he shouldn’t do it.
“When it comes to that, it’s your decision,” the officer said. “Just think, brother. Do you want to go through with this or not? If you don’t want to do it, just tell me.”
The trial is expected to adjourn this week until October.
Mokdad told the court Tuesday that he is usually very involved with police files, but when it came to this operation his role was peripheral.
The officer said that at one point, Kalkat asked him to provide verses from the Qur’an that advise against the killing of innocent people. In another instance, Kalkat asked for a list of famous jihadi battles, or holy wars, in the Middle East.
“He wanted something that mentions jihad in the Qur’an for (the undercover officer) to read up on, to know what it is, to at least be able to cite it properly,” said Mokdad.
“The verse I sent him is a verse that is very general in its context, versus sending a verse that talks about swords and striking necks and so on and so forth.”