CBC Article: Canaadian Police Have Wire Tap Evidence To Prove Case Against Young Muslim Terrorism Suspects!
Awso Peshdary, seen in a court sketch from Tuesday, has had his reputation unfairly tainted by recent events, his supporters say. (Sarah Wallace/CBC)Wiretaps that are expected to be introduced in an Ottawa court on Friday may help connect the dots between a suspect charged with assault and the arrests of three other men on terrorism charges.
Awso Peshdary, 20, was arrested Aug. 27 in Ottawa on his way to work and detained during a probe into an alleged homegrown terrorism plot.
He remains in custody after his bail hearing was put off until Friday. Peshdary has not been charged with any terrorism-related offences, but has been detained on domestic assault charges since Aug. 27.
Peshdary’s lawyer, Richard Morris, asked in an Ottawa court Tuesday for the hearing to be moved to Friday to allow more time to review material in the case.
Peshdary was not charged with any terrorism-related offences.
Charges unrelated to terrorism
Instead, police laid an unrelated assault charge. He was granted bail on Saturday, then immediately rearrested by Ottawa police on similar charges related to a separate incident. On Sunday, a justice of the peace adjourned Peshdary’s second bail hearing until Tuesday.
During this time, the RCMP have not questioned Peshdary again or come forward with any terrorism-related charges.
It’s not clear what Peshdary’s connection is to the RCMP terrorism probe, and police will only say that the investigation is ongoing.
Hiva Mohammad Alizadeh, 30, and Misbahuddin Ahmed, 26, both of Ottawa, and Khurram Syed Sher, 28, of London, Ont., were arrested last week and are accused of conspiring to facilitate terrorism with others in Canada, Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Dubai over the past two years.
They are scheduled to make a video court appearance on Wednesday, at which time their lawyers hope to set up bail hearings to argue for their release.
Friends rally outside courtroom
Outside the courtroom on Tuesday, dozens of Peshdary’s friends and family said they feel the justice system has let them down.
They described Peshdary as a calm, patient family man always willing to help and said the allegations have tainted their friend’s reputation.
Mohammed Abdur Haman said he was driving by when he saw police arrest Peshdary on Friday, but at the time didn’t know it was his high school friend surrounded by police.
“We seen the cars come up on a car, and then you hear on the newspaper the next day and it’s your own friend,” said Haman. “It just hurts a lot of people.”
PROFILE: Read more about Awso Peshdary.
A friend who gave his name only as Yahya said reports associating Peshdary with an alleged terrorism investigation will make it difficult for his friend to build a life in Ottawa.
“This guy is trying to go to school, this guy is trying to make something of himself, and who’s going to hire him?” he said. “What do you do in that situation when Canada is your home?”
With files from the CBC’s Susan Lunn and The Canadian Press
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