Trial
Charged with four offences under Canada’s Anti-terrorism Act, Amara entered the courtroom smiling toward his mother, who sat twenty feet away.
The charges include two counts of receiving terrorist training and participating in a terrorist group, one count of recruiting for a terrorist group and one count of intent to set off an explosion with the aim of causing bodily harm or great damage.
As a result of preferred direct indictment by the Crown Attorney on 2007-09-24, Amara was re-arrested and charged with knowingly instructing a person to carry out an activity for the benefit of a terrorist group.
On October 8, 2009, Amara pleaded guilty to two counts: "knowingly participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion for the benefit of a terrorist group".
Amara stated he had learned how to construct a fertilizer bomb over the internet and planned to use it on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officials say the type of bomb he was constructing could have killed hundreds after they reconstructed his techniques.
On January 18, 2010, Amara was sentenced to life in prison. Mr. Justice Bruce Durno's decision is the stiffest punishment imposed in the terrorism conspiracy and also the stiffest punishment imposed to date under Canada's antiterrorism laws, which Parliament passed in the aftermath of al-Qaeda's 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.
A week before his sentence Amara released a public statement apologizing for his actions and renouncing extremism.
Read more about this topic: Zakaria Amara
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