A Toronto delivery driver has become the first suspect accused of dismembering a prisoner in Iraq nearly a decade ago. ISIS The member will face war crimes charges in Canada.
In an indictment filed in an Ontario court, Ahmed Fawad Mustafa Al-Didi has been charged with four counts under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, including torture and murder.
The alleged incidents took place during the rise of ISIS in 2014 and 2015. Three years later Al-Didi moved to Toronto and Refugee claim which was accepted. He is now a Canadian citizen.
Global News Disclosure Last summer Eldidi, a former Amazon driver originally from Egypt, allegedly posted a 2015 ISIS video. I was seen using a sword to cut off the hands and feet of a prisoner.
“This is the first national security investigation where charges of war crimes have been laid in Canada,” an Ontario spokesperson for the RCMP said Tuesday.
Professor Michael Nesbitt, associate dean of research at the University of Calgary Law School and a leading expert on national security law, said the charges are significant for Canada.
“It's a big deal,” he said.
As far as they know, the Canadian Prosecution Service has never before used the War Crimes Act against a suspect for alleged crimes committed in Islamic State territory.
Rather, Canada has mostly used war crimes laws for deportation and revocation of citizenship. In 2021, a BC resident Pleaded guilty War crimes for promoting hatred against residents of the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Al-Didi was previously charged with aggravated assault over the alleged incident in Iraq, as well as terrorism charges, as well as planning an ISIS attack in Toronto, according to the RCMP.
But five months later, the Crown has filed more substantive war crimes charges, alleging the 62-year-old committed “outrages on personal dignity” during the armed conflict.
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The indictment obtained by Global News does not name the victim, but describes him as a “protected person in a non-international armed conflict.”
RCMP said the investigation was conducted by the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team in Greater Toronto. The charges were approved on December 11 by Canada's Deputy Attorney General, George Dulai.
RCMP said Al-Didi appeared in court yesterday and has been remanded in custody.
ISIS has committed countless atrocities in Syria and Iraq. Genocide of YazidisBut in 2019, it lost the last of its territory to Kurdish fighters backed by an international military coalition.
Since then, there has been little in the way of justice ISIS members have been prosecuted, including in Canada, where only a handful have returned home after serving in the group.
The majority of Canadian ISIS women returned to BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec have been arrested on peace bonds that restrict their movement but not criminally charged.
Al-Didi's alleged crimes were caught in four minutes. Video Released in 2015 by an ISIS branch in northwestern Iraq. Titled “Deterring Spies,” it depicts a prisoner confessing before being led out into a secluded area.
The prisoner is then shown hanging from a cross while a man wearing an ISIS hat attacks his limbs with a sword. Prosecutors have alleged that the man wielding the sword is al-Didi.
Despite his alleged past in Iraq, al-Didi was able to fly into Toronto's Pearson Airport in 2018. His refugee claim was accepted by the Immigration and Refugee Board, and he became a citizen in May.
However, following a subsequent tip-off from French authorities, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP National Security Unit launched an investigation.
Police arrested al-Didi and his son Mustafa, 27, after they allegedly recorded a video in which they carried an ax and knife, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State terror group.
The case has raised questions. space In Canada's immigration security screening system. The government has defended its actions but said it is reviewing the matter.
“The review is ongoing and more information will be provided as it becomes available,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement last month.
In the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security Hearing In August, Conservative MP Melissa Lentman questioned how “someone who is allegedly an ISIS terrorist” was able to obtain citizenship. happened
“Do you really think that the system should work this way? Do you really think that this is not a big failure of your government? He said.
There are a number of investigations related to ISIS. increased Across Canada, 20 suspects were arrested this year and last year, compared to just two in 2022.
According to police and experts, youths are driving a surge in ISIS activity as the terror group bounces back from its 2019 defeat in Syria.
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
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