Canada has arrested terrorist suspect who arrived from Syria
2022.10.26 17:46
Canada has arrested terrorist suspect who arrived from Syria
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – After spending five years in detention by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Canadian police announced on Wednesday that they had arrested a woman on her return to Canada for allegedly working for the Islamic State.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Quebec said in a statement that Oumaima Chouay, 27, was arrested at the Montreal-Trudeau airport on Tuesday night and charged with four terrorism-related offenses, including “participation in activity of terrorist group.”
Before her arrest by the SDF in November 2017, police said, Chouay left Canada in 2014. Prior to her departure, she was under suspicion of participating in “terrorist activities” in the name of Islamic State.
She was one of two Syrian women returning. The other, 50-year-old Kimberly Polman, arrived in Montreal on Wednesday morning and was also taken into custody, according to her attorney Lawrence Greenspon.
Her attorney stated that Polman did not face any criminal charges. Multiple calls and emails to the RCMP in British Columbia, where Polman is from, were not returned with a response.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for its cooperation and the United States for their assistance in the operation were thanked by the Canadian foreign ministry, which confirmed that four Canadians—two children and two women—had been repatriated from northeast Syria.
The foreign ministry stated that the detained individuals were subjected to an “extremely difficult security situation and adverse circumstances,” but it did not name the individuals due to privacy concerns.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that “traveling for the purpose of supporting terrorism” was a crime and that anyone who traveled for such a purpose should face criminal charges. However, he did not directly address the issue.
He stated to reporters, “It is important that we ensure that people know that you cannot get away with supporting terrorism in this country, regardless of the circumstances.”
