Canadian sentenced to 10 years for trying to join Somali terrorist group

TORONTO – The first Canadian to be convicted for attempting to participate in terrorist activity abroad, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday.

Mohamed Hassan Hersi — a 28-year-old Somali-Canadian — was arrested at Toronto’s Pearson airport in March 2011 as he was about to board a flight to Cairo.

He was convicted of two terrorism charges in May, after a trial that lasted two and a half months.

A jury found the former Hockey Hall of Fame security guard guilty of attempting to take part in the activities of Al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist group, as well as advising another man — an undercover police officer — to do the same.

Hersi’s lawyer Paul Slansky was hoping for a three or four-year prison sentence, while the Crown pushed for 10 years.

Speaking outside Brampton court on Thursday, Slansky said he wasn’t “completely surprised” by the court’s decision.

“But I’m not sure how much it’s going to matter because in the end, there will be an appeal and I’m quite hopeful that the appeal will succeed in relation to conviction and/or sentence,” Slansky said.

Tabit Mohamed — who described himself as a distant uncle — said he has known Hersi ever since he came to Canada as a four year old.

He spoke with reporters outside court, saying Hersi — a graduate who majored in health studies and psychology at the University of Toronto in Scarborough — was “devastated.”

“We are disappointed with the outcome of the court,” Mohamed said. “It’s very harsh, we were not expecting this kind of decision from the judge but we still believe in Canadian justice. There is room for appeal of the decision.

“As a family, we see that this was a political trial and nothing to do with the justice system.”

In her reasons for sentencing, Justice Deena Baltman did not hesitate to heavily criticize Hersi, who she said was on the brink of becoming a “terror tourist” despite benefitting from a Western education and a loving family.

“He was healthy, well-educated, gainfully employed and had a supportive family,” Baltman wrote.

“Despite all that, he decided life would be better in Somalia serving the Al-Shabaab killing machine.”

Meanwhile, Slansky likened the “supposed offence” to a “thought-crime.”

“The authorities are very happy, I’m sure, that they can now get convictions for effectively someone merely speaking their thoughts,” he said.

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