A convicted terrorist currently in an American prison will be brought to Canada after his sentence is complete, thanks to a Canadian law introduced in 2016.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a convicted terrorist with dual Pakistani and Canadian citizenship, is currently serving his sentence in the U.S. until 2021.
Rana was charged in 2009 for plotting to kill a Danish journalist that published a cartoon of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.
He was also convicted of giving information to the Pakistani terrorist group that committed the 2008 Mumbai attacks — an atrocity that left 166 people dead.
After his sentence is complete, he will be extradited to Canada — as per American law.
In 2015, Canada was going through the process of revoking his citizenship, under a newly passed law that allowed the government to strip citizenship from dual citizens convicted of terrorism.
Rana was one of ten convicted terrorists who were set to have their Canadian citizenship revoked. Had his citizenship been revoked, Rana would have been Pakistan’s problem, not Canada’s.
Fast forward to 2019, however, and Rana still has Canadian citizenship. He could be on Canadian soil as early as 2021.
What happened?
In 2016, the Trudeau government enacted Bill C-6, a bill that protects dual-citizen terrorists from having their citizenship revoked.
Not only did this bill protect Rana, it also restored citizenship to other terrorists who had it stripped under the previous government.This includes Zakaria Amara, the Toronto 18 mastermind who was convicted of plotting terrorist attacks against Canadians.
Canada might catch a break, and not have to welcome Rana back at all. The government of India reportedly wants Rana extradited to their country to face charges related to his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The Trump administration has shown willingness to help India bring Rana to justice, but his extradition to India is not guaranteed.
Both the American and Indian governments have complicated extradition procedures, and they are “unwilling to cut down or speed up their own process when it comes to extradition.”
If the process is not sorted out by the time of his release, Rana will be deported to Canada.
One more convicted terrorist to “reintegrate” into Canadian society.
