CBC News: Profile Of Young Terrorist Suspect Awso Peshdary.
Age: 20
Arrested in: Ottawa
Charges:
- Assault and uttering threats in April
- Assault and uttering threats Aug. 10
Awso Peshdary, sketched during an appearance in an Ottawa court Aug. 31. (Sarah Wallace/CBC)On his way to work early on the morning of Friday, Aug. 27, Awso Peshdary was stopped by police and taken into custody by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team.
According to the Ottawa Citizen his car was badly damaged and witnesses reported police guns were drawn. Undercover police cars, a tactical unit black SUV, and RCMP and Ottawa police cruisers were at the scene, on Esson Street near Hunt Club Road in Ottawa.
Until a few months ago he worked in advertising sales at Muslim Link, a community newspaper. Peshdary’s name still appears on the paper’s online rate card for ads. It has been reported that at the time of his arrest he was working at a call centre.
Peshdary is married and has a six-month-old daughter.
When he was 18 and single, he wrote on a matrimonial website that he wanted to study education at university. He listed basketball and soccer as his favourite sports. “I am looking for a special lady who first of all is a dedicated Muslim, second who looks very beautiful, don’t mean to be rude but a virgin. A person I can never stop talking to, one who will raise my children according to Islam, and who will be my companion to the afterlife inshallah,” he wrote in his listing.
Awso Peshdary was one of the speakers at “Resurrection,” an evening of speeches and entertainment in Ottawa in 2009.Last year, Peshdary was featured on posters for “Resurrection,” a series of events aimed at Muslim youth in Ontario and Quebec.
His family roots are in Iraq and his name is Kurdish. He has Canadian citizenship.
Peshdary has not been charged with terrorism-related offences.
On Saturday, he was granted bail and released after being questioned for hours. Then he was facing one charge of assault and one charge of threatening. Moments after he was released, he was rearrested on a third charge, and a fourth count was added Sunday. A publication ban forbids reporting what was said in court.
His lawyer, Richard Morris, said police were “seeking to detain this individual on the domestic charges in order to further the investigation by the RCMP.”
At a bail hearing on Tuesday Morris said he wanted more time to review documents and DVDs handed over to him. The hearing was moved to Friday.
A Free Awso Peshdary group was started Monday on Facebook, and over 90 members joined in less than a day. William McMann of Ottawa writes: “I remember an incredible athlete with pride, determination and empathy.”
Ottawa high school student Sharmarke Sahal, who created the group, wrote to CBC News that Peshdary is “a role model to young Muslims and wouldn’t do anything to sacrifice the well-being of his new family.”
Gayblackcanada 