A Member of Parliament has expressed his concern about the release of an ISIS supporter in British Columbia.
Mel Arnold, MP for North Okanagan-Shuswap in British Columbia, strongly condemned the decision by a federal court to release Othman Hamdan from custody and place him in the town of Enderby, which he represents.
“Tuesday’s federal court decision upholding the release order for Mr. Othman Hamdan is a source of serious concern for me and my fellow Canadians in the North Okanagan-Shuswap and beyond,” he said in a statement.
Hamdan was arrested over a year ago after the Immigration Board declared him a security risk due to his support for Islamic terrorism online.
The Immigration and Refugee Board found in October that Hamdan “praised lone-wolf attacks, actively promoted the Islamic State, disseminated instructions on how to commit attacks and seems fascinated with the extreme violence the Islamic State demonstrated by possessing Islamic State videos depicting gruesome murders.”
In one post, Hamdan praised the 2014 Parliament Hill shooter that killed Corporal Nathan Cirillo in cold blood.
“Othman Hamdan used 14 different Facebook accounts to promote terrorist attacks in Canada and celebrated the cold-blooded terror killings of Canadian soldiers on Canadian soil,” Arnold said.
Hamdan, a native of the United Arab Emirates, moved to Canada in 2002, claiming asylum as a persecuted Christian. Federal authorities later ruled that Hamdan fake his conversion to Christianity in order to get approved for asylum.
The court this week upheld a decision from August granted Hamdan release while he awaits his eventual deportation. Hamdan will be staying with a friend in the small town of Enderby, BC.
The decision to allow Hamdan to Enderby is made even more concerning considering Hamdan allegedly made posts on Facebook describing the Revelstoke Dam as a good target for a terrorist attack.
The Mayor of Enderby called it “crazy” to let Hamdan free in a small town like Enderby, which is so close to vulnerable infrastructure.
Arnold criticized the Judge that released Hamdan for disregarding his previous behaviour.
“By stating these conditions are adequate and apparently believing Hamdan will abide by them, Diner and Rempel seem to ignore previous warnings of their own colleagues that Hamdan is both a security risk to Canada and a liar,” he said.
Along with posting a $2,000 bond, Hamdan must obey 25 conditions such as not leaving home at night and not driving a vehicle.
