Terror Suspects Due In Court

As 14 of the 17 terror suspects arrested in the GTA earlier this month prepared to return to a Brampton court Monday, lawyers for the accused were split on whether treatment of their clients has improved since they were taken into custody.

Arif Raza has now been able to visit with his client, 19-year-old Saad Khalid, at the Maplehurst correctional centre in Milton, Ont.

“I was actually able to meet him physically, not across a barrier,” Raza said. “It’s a far superior method of communicating with each other. The environment was much more friendly.”

Raza added that Khalid was also able to see his father over the weekend, which made a “significant difference in his life.”

Last week, lawyers for the 17 accused in the case complained they weren’t able to speak properly with their clients, limited to speaking over the phone through Plexiglas.

“These people are accused of serious crimes, but they are still human beings,” Raza said.

“They’re entitled to the same protections under the law as any other inmate.”

Monday’s court date for 14 of the accused was to set dates for bail hearings and to make sure they all have legal representation.

Rocco Galati, another defence lawyer in the case, contends a fair trial for his client is impossible given the media circus surrounding the case and his view that politicians including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Toronto Mayor David Miller, as well as some Muslim community leaders, have already declared the accused guilty in public.

“It’s unprecedented that politicians and select members of the media are given heads up of investigations, given heads ups of arrests and publicly pronounce the guilt of the accused within 48 hours of their arrest,” Galati said.

“There is no way as a lawyer in my professional view that these accused can now have a fair trial. How is that possible?”

Lawyers have also complained their clients – who were barred from communicating with each other – were denied their religious rights. Donald McLeod, who represents 23-year-old Jahmaal James said the suspects wanted to pray as a group.

Federal prosecutor Jim Leising told court last week he doesn’t have authority over how the suspects are treated.

“I have nothing to do with the rules an institution imposes,” he said.

The group allegedly planned to bomb several Ontario targets including the CN Tower, Toronto Stock Exchange, and the offices of Canadian spy agency CSIS.