KHALILULLAH Yousuf on Monday pleaded guilty in the Ontario Superior Court to two of the three terrorism-related offences he was facing. In an agreed statement of facts filed with the court, he admitted having created online fundraising campaigns, collected money, and transferred funds, in both cash and cryptocurrency, abroad to support the Islamic State for an amount exceeding $35,000 contrary to section 83.03 of the Criminal Code.
Yousuf also recognized participating in the activities of a terrorist group, pursuant to section 83.18 of the Criminal Code, by making and disseminating pro-Islamic state propaganda on social media for the purposes of radicalizing and recruiting people to the Islamic State. He also conducted research and created propaganda to justify terrorist attacks on foreign nationals in Afghanistan.
The Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) and counsel for Yousuf made joint submissions for the sentence of 12 years of imprisonment less the time served in pre-trial custody. Yousuf will also need to serve half of the sentence before being released on full parole and will be subjected to a weapons prohibition order following his release. The Court agreed with the joint submissions and imposed the recommended sentence. The remaining charge was stayed considering the acknowledgement of the facts related to that charge as part of the guilty plea.
George Dolhai, Director of Public Prosecutions, said, “At its core, terrorism is violence that seeks to justify itself. But the violence needs support by advocates, recruiters, and financiers as essential parts of the cycle of intimidation and destruction. The verdicts and sentences today represent how Canadian society, in accordance with the rule of law, emphatically holds to account those who make the violence possible.”
The PPSC is a national organization responsible for prosecuting offences under federal jurisdiction in a manner that is free of any improper influence and that respects the public interest. The PPSC is also responsible for providing prosecution-related advice to law enforcement agencies across Canada.
