A Christina Lake man acquitted on terror-related charges has been given temporary residence in Canada, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Adam Hamdan was detained by immigration authorities on national security grounds after his September 2017 acquittal. He was stripped of his refugee status in October 2018.
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The Crown alleged at trial that Hamdan used his Facebook blog on the Syrian civil war to incite murder, assault causing bodily harm and “terrorist activity” in Canada, according to court documents. The prosecution’s theory rested on 85 of Hamdan’s Facebook posts between September 2014 and July 2015, some of which he reposted from other sources. When viewed together, the Crown argued that the posts showed Hamdan had “counselled” these alleged crimes “for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with” the violent Islamist group ISIS.
A Supreme Court judge ruled that the Crown had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, qualifying that the Facebook posts may have been offensive to some people but did not constitute terrorism.
In an email to Hamdan on April 20, IRCC said it had approved his application to stay in Canada as a temporary resident, granting him a permit that runs out in April 2023.
Hamdan maintains his innocence. He filed a civil lawsuit in January against the Crown and several government agencies in which he claims his Charter rights were violated in prison.
He said he plans to plant 1,517 trees in his community — one for each day he spent in detention.
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