Crown withdraws terrorism allegations against Yemeni man arrested in Toronto area
The case against Husam Taha Ali Al-Sewaiee was dropped at a court appearance on Thursday, his lawyer said in a statement.
The move came after the RCMP received new information that satisfied initial fears about the 33-year-old.
He still faces a threatening charge.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Al-Sewaiee was initially arrested in Mississauga, Ont., on April 15 for uttering threats. Four days later, he was arrested again.
This time, the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team alleged he had attempted to leave Canada to join a terrorist organization.
He was not charged with terrorism. Instead, prosecutors asked the court for a terrorism peace bond that would restrict his movements in the name of public safety.
Story continues below advertisement
'Mr. Al-Sewaiee has always maintained this peace bond application was baseless and the allegations against him were entirely without merit,' his lawyer Rebecca Amoah said.
'Mr. Al-Sewaiee has been wrongly prosecuted, arrested, and detained. He has spent almost two months in custody, without being charged with any related criminal offence, pending the determination of a baseless peace bond application that the Crown has now withdrawn.'
Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
10 minutes ago
- Global News
Ontario mother's battle to bring son home from Vietnam reaches 546 days
Everything in Jacob Le's room is as he left it before he went on a trip with his father to Vietnam, nearly a year and a half ago. His bright yellow truck is parked in the corner of the bedroom, a pile of stuffed animals, including his favourite teddy bear, sits on the edge of his bed and his paintings are displayed proudly all around the downtown Toronto apartment. Jacob's mother, Heather McArthur, is waiting for the day her son returns home after 546 days away. 'It's the littlest moments when I walk around now and I see a mother with her child looking at a flower, and just remembering those moments with my son and what he brought to my life and how much of him is missing, and how much of this doesn't make sense to me,' said McArthur. Story continues below advertisement Jacob's father, Loc Phu 'Jay' Le, took him to Vietnam in February of 2024 to supposedly celebrate Lunar New Year as part of a vacation cleared by the courts, McArthur explained, but he never returned to Canada. Toronto police released an image of Jacob's father on May 7 and requested the public's help in locating him as he was 'wanted in a parental abduction investigation.' Le, 41, is wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for abduction in contravention of a custody order. McArthur has travelled back and forth from Toronto to Ho Chi Minh City multiple times in search of her son. Adding a layer of complexity to the case is the fact that Vietnam is not a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which 'can help parents with the return of children who have been removed to, or retained in certain countries in violation of custody rights,' according to a Government of Canada website. 'Whether we have a convention, whether we've signed a treaty or not, is that relevant? Is that what we care about? We should care about one thing only. We should be doing everything. Every politician, every lawyer, everyone should be behind her, instead she feels like she's fighting upstream just to get attention,' said McArthur's lawyer, Robert Rotenberg. Story continues below advertisement 3:28 Toronto mother searches for missing son in Vietnam He is calling on the federal government to step up and support McArthur and help bring her son, who is a Canadian citizen, home. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'There's no central place for them to go. There's no place in the government that says, 'We're gonna advocate for you, for every means.' And frankly, if you ask me, what do I think the government should be doing? I've got a one-word answer for you. One word. The government should be doing everything,' said Rotenberg. Global News contacted Global Affairs Canada to ask what is being done to help McArthur. In a statement, a spokesperson said: 'Global Affairs Canada is aware of the parental abduction of a Canadian child in Vietnam. Consular officials are in contact with local authorities and are providing assistance to the family. Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be disclosed.' Story continues below advertisement The spokesperson added: 'Child abductions are some of the most difficult consular situations that the Government of Canada responds to and are a profoundly difficult and damaging experiences for both the children and their families. The Government of Canada works with partners in Canada and officials in other countries to inquire into the safety and well-being of abducted children and facilitate their return to Canada.' In the last few months, there have been some developments, said McArthur, although none have led to her son's return. Jacob was the subject of an Interpol yellow notice, which is a global police alert for a missing person. Yellow notices are often issued to help locate minors or those who are unable to identify themselves. On a recent trip to Vietnam however, McArthur said she learned that the notice was 'no longer active.' 'I was notified that the consulate had met with the child and the father about 20 hours prior to that. And so that was the reason that it was cleared,' she said, adding 'my hopes were really high that I would see Jacob. I was sitting at the police station with my lawyer, waiting to see my son.' McArthur ended up returning to Toronto to work on her son's case from home. 'You go into a state of shock. There's only so many ups and downs that the body can take in these scenarios … There's been so many times or a few times where I've been so close to where I have located Jacob and then not been able to get action or had hopes of seeing him and not being able to achieve that and that's just really hard,' she said. Story continues below advertisement On top of the emotional toll, McArthur is dealing with the financial impact of the battle to bring home her son. She set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with legal fees and travel costs. McArthur has also been in contact with parents of other abducted children. 'There's systemic barriers that people face in accessing support and services and so I assist other people that are having difficulties accessing service and support, both for their children left behind and those children abroad,' she said. McArthur is planning to return to Vietnam once again to try and locate Jacob and bring him home. She said she understands Toronto police are limited in their efforts but hopes the federal government will do more to support her and her son. 'The police have specific jurisdiction, and so when a child is abroad, those investigations can oftentimes be really limited with the procedures that they're able to do,' she said, adding, 'If you were to ask me, why has the government not done more? Why has the Government not done everything to bring Jacob home? My answer is just that I don't know what to tell you because I don't know why that would be.'
Global News
an hour ago
- Global News
House Republicans may hold potential vote to urge release of Epstein files
House Republicans were grasping late Thursday to formulate a response to the Trump administration's handling of records in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case, ultimately putting forward a resolution that carries no legal weight but nodded to the growing demand for greater transparency. The House resolution, which could potentially be voted on next week, will do practically nothing to force the Justice Department to release more records in the case. Still, it showed how backlash from the Republican base is putting pressure on the Trump administration and roiling GOP lawmakers. The House was held up for hours Thursday from final consideration of President Donald Trump's request for about US$9 billion in government funding cuts because GOP leaders were trying to respond to demands from their own ranks that they weigh in on the Epstein files. In the late evening they settled on the resolution as an attempt to simultaneously placate calls from the far-right for greater transparency and satisfy Trump, who has called the issue a 'hoax' that his supporters should forget about. Story continues below advertisement Yet the House resolution was the latest demonstration of how practically no one is moving on from Attorney General Pam Bondi's promises to publicly release documents related to Epstein. Since he was found dead in his New York jail cell in August 2019 following his arrest on sex trafficking charges, the well-connected financier has loomed large among conservatives and conspiracy theorists who have now lashed out at Trump and Bondi for declining to release more files in the case. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The House Republicans are for transparency, and they're looking for a way to say that they agree with the White House. We agree with the president. Everything he said about that, all the credible evidence should come out,' House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday afternoon. 2:33 Trump 'would not recommend' special prosecutor in Epstein case: White House Democrats vehemently decried the resolution's lack of force. They have advanced their own legislation, with support from nine Republicans, that would require the Justice Department to release more information on the case. Story continues below advertisement Rep. Jim McGovern, who led the Democrats' debate against the Republican resolution Thursday night, called it a 'glorified press release' and 'a fig leaf so they can move on from this issue.' Under pressure from his own GOP members, Johnson had to demonstrate action on the Epstein files or risk having Republicans support the Democratic measures that would force the release of nearly all documents. 'The American people simply need to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,' House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a news conference. 'Democrats didn't put this into the public domain. The conspiracy theory provocateur-in-chief Donald Trump is the one, along with his extreme MAGA Republican associates, who put this whole thing into the public domain for years. And now they are reaping what they have sown.' Still, Democrats, who hold minorities in both chambers, have relished the opportunity to make Republicans repeatedly block their attempts to force the Justice Department to release the documents. Trump in recent years has suggested he would release more information about the investigation into Epstein, especially amid speculation over a supposed list of Epstein's clients. In February, the Justice Department released some government documents regarding the case, but there were no new revelations. After a months-long review of additional evidence, the department earlier this month released a video meant to prove that Epstein killed himself, but said no other files related to the case would be made public. Story continues below advertisement A White House spokeswoman said Thursday that Trump would not recommend a special counsel in the case. But later Thursday, the president said he had asked Bondi to seek the release of testimony from grand jury proceedings in the case. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said that process would likely only produce limited information, but added that it showed that 'the president is hearing the American people.'
Global News
2 hours ago
- Global News
Toronto's 2005 Boxing Day gunman faces 1st-degree murder charge in Montreal
Jeremiah Valentine, who went to prison for taking part in the 2005 Boxing Day shootout in Toronto that killed a 15-year-old girl, has been charged with murder in Montreal. The 43-year-old faces one count of first-degree murder in the killing of Abdeck Kenedith Ibrahim, 33, who was gunned down in a downtown Montreal square around 12:45 a.m. Tuesday. Valentine was among several people convicted in the 2005 shootout in downtown Toronto between rival gangs that killed 15-year-old Jane Creba and injured six others. Creba was shopping with her mother and sister on Yonge Street, traditionally one of Toronto's busiest strips for Boxing Day bargain hunters, when she was caught in the crossfire. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Crown said forensics had determined it was 'very likely' he fired the bullet that killed the Grade 10 student, but admitted those tests were not definitive and that the bullet could have come from two other weapons. Story continues below advertisement In 2009, Valentine pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 12 years for a crime that became a flashpoint for the city's anger over a rise in gun-related killings. Valentine would have had to wait much longer than 12 years for parole eligibility if he hadn't pleaded guilty, Ontario Superior Court Justice John McMahon said at the time. The Crown says the Montreal case was put off until Oct. 23, following a brief hearing at the city's courthouse on Thursday. According to the charging document, Valentine was living in downtown Montreal. The Parole Board of Canada did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday, and the prosecutor's office declined to comment further.
