Jury finds 2 men guilty of several terror related charges in VIA plot

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Two men have been found guilty of several terror-related charges in connection with a plot to attack a VIA rail passenger train in the Niagara Region. The jury had been deliberating for 10 days.

The two men, Raed Jaser and Chiheb Esseghaier seemed to sit motionless as the verdicts were read. They were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder. They were also found guilty of several counts of being involved in a terrorist organization. There was a split on one count, that being the charge of conspiracy to commit damage that would endanger the public safety. Chiheb Esseghaier was found guilty. As for Raed Jaser, the jury could not convict and so they had to declare a mistrial on that one count.

This case was really made by an FBI agent who went under cover and infiltrated this terror cell. Over the course of the trial the jury saw surveillance video of the three men examining the Jordan Harbour Bridge in Niagara where the attack would have taken place. They heard over 20 hours of recorded conversations with the two accused as they planned to derail a VIA train headed from New York to Toronto in retaliation for Canadian military action abroad.

The two accused tried to present very different images in court. Chiheb Esseghaier did not mount a defence and chose not to participate. He did not even stand when the verdicts were read. He said earlier that he does not believe in the Criminal Code of Canada, only the Koran.

The lawyer for Raed Jaser, John Norris, said his client is not a terrorist and was only trying to scam money from Chiheb Esseghaier. Today outside of court Mr. Norris appeared alongside Mr. Jasers father and brothers who chose not to speak. Even Mr. Norris had a tough time when asked if he would now classify Raed Jaser as a terrorist “As you should know from following this trial there are a number of different narratives that are available and a number of different perspectives that can be brought to bear on this evidence…he has been found guilty of that. That label coming from my mouth doesn’t seem to matter I don’t think.” Mr. Norris did also say they would consider an appeal.

The prosecutions lawyer, Croft Michelson today called both of these men a danger to public safety and they would consider their options regarding a new trial for Raed Jaser “technically we have the option to move forward and have a trial on that count. We’ll consider all of our options. Let’s face it we got a conviction on conspiracy to commit murder… We’ll wait and see. We’ll consider our options over the next few weeks.”

Both of these men face a possible life sentence based on these convictions, but we won’t find out what those sentences will be for some time. Both are expected to be in court April 10th to set a date for sentencing.