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He wasn’t a terrorist, he was a con man. That’s what a Toronto jury was told today, by the lawyer for one of the men charged with trying to sabotage the Jordan Harbour VIA train bridge. John Norris told the jury his client, Raed Jaser, appeared to have violent jihadist sympathies, based on about 25 hours of recordings made by an undercover FBI agent who was investigating Jaser and his co-accused, Chehib Essegaier, for terrorism. But, he said, you have to look at the context. Anyone overhearing those conversations would assume the FBI agent was a jihadist too. The lawyer says Raed Jaser was faking his interest in the terrorist plot…he was completely insincere. He thought he could get something out of the undercover FBI agent and his co-accused Chiheb Esseghaier. He said in short, Mr. Jaser is a con man, he is not a terrorist.
Mr Norris continued to say Mr. Jaser never really agreed to the terror plot – and you can tell from the surveillance footage of Mr. Jaser and Mr. Esseghaier when they went to check out the St. Catharines train station and the bridge over Jordan Harbour. According to Mr. Norris, Mr. Jaser wasn’t concerned about being watched, because he knew the plan would never be carried out. He pointed out that Mr. Jaser was always finding problems with the plan, and always suggesting a solution that would require more money. He says Raed Jaser backed out of the plot when he realized he wasn’t going to get any money out of his marks. There’s no evidence he tried to plot other violence.
Mr. Esseghaier is representing himself, and has told the jury simply that he believes only in the Koran, and that he feels the Canadian criminal justice system is corrupt. The judge will start instructing the jury on Friday, and they’ll start deliberations next week.