Calgary-area cousins to face separate trial in fall of 2022 on terrorism-related charges

Two Calgary-area men charged with terrorism-related offences will face separate jury trials in the fall of 2022 after their lawyers scheduled the hearings Friday.

Defence counsel Yoav Niv asked Justice Keith Yamauchi to schedule a four-week trial for his client, Jamal Borhot, to begin Oct. 3, 2022.

Lawyer Rame Katrib said he could not be ready earlier than that time for trial considering the complicated nature of the file, despite Crown prosecutor Kent Brown suggesting a date as early as next May would be appropriate.

Katrib asked Yamauchi to schedule a four-week trial for his client, Hussein Borhot, to begin Nov. 21, 2022.

The two men, who are cousins, are charged separately in connection with a seven-year RCMP investigation.

Jamal Borhot, 31, faces three charges of participating in the activities of a terrorist group. Hussein Borhot, 35, faces those same three charges plus an additional allegation of commission of an offence for a terrorist group.

Both were arrested last year — Jamal in September and Hussein two months earlier.

They are both accused of travelling to Syria to assist ISIS.

The two men are free on bail pending trial.

Niv said while the main trial will take four weeks, other time will have to be made available in the interim for pre-trial motions.

“It’s gonna involve Charter applications; there’s going to be a slew of issues that come up,” he told Yamauchi.

Both he and Katrib said they are still awaiting disclosure on the case, but had to set trial dates in order for a case-management judge to be appointed to hear those applications.

“We need to get pre-trial motions done; we need to get disclosure done.”

Brown said while about 95 per cent of disclosure has already been provided there is still some material which has to be vetted by agencies other than the prosecution before it can be provided to the defence.

Original Article: https://calgaryherald.com/news/crime/calgary-area-cousins-to-face-separate-trial-in-fall-of-2022-on-terrorism-related-charges