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No charges for man's call to kill soldiers
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Hate Speech Case; Internet postings attacked Jews, denied Holocaust
Stewart Bell, National Post
Published: Tuesday, June 30, 2009
A Toronto man who had posted messages on the Internet supporting terrorist attacks in Canada and the deportation of Jews will not face criminal charges, police said yesterday.
The Ontario Provincial Police hate crimes and extremism unit had been investigating Salman Hossain -- whose writings included a call to kill Western soldiers "so that they think twice before entering foreign countries on behalf of their Jew masters" -- for willfully promoting hatred toward the Jewish community, but the case was recently closed.
"The OPP reviewed the case with Crown counsel. As a result of that review, it was determined that insufficient grounds existed to support willful promotion of hatred charges," said Detective-Sergeant Brent Young.
Police would provide no further explanation. In Ontario, hate-crimes charges must be approved by the Attorney-General. The spokesman for the Ministry said the Attorney-General had not been asked to approve charges in this case.
"The Attorney-General did not reverse any decision. In fact, no direct request was made of the Attorney-General. In accordance with the long-standing procedure for such cases, the matter was carefully reviewed by counsel who determined a request to the Attorney-General was not appropriate in this case," Brendan Crawley said.
The Canadian Jewish Congress said it was "perplexed" by the decision. "We recognize that the bar is set high in terms of not only laying charges, but in terms of gaining a conviction," said Len Rudner, the CJC's Ontario regional director. "But I'm not a lawyer, so when I look at somebody talking about the charge that Western nations invade countries under the control of 'Jew masters,' that concerns me."
Writing in online Internet forums, Mr. Hossain frequently singled out Jews, calling them derogatory names, claiming the Holocaust was "fictional" and once asking, "When do I get to shoot a few Jews down..."
In one posting, Mr. Hossain wrote, "Here's what I suggest we do ... just throw out the Jews (by religion or blood) out of the instruments of mainstream media, finance/banking, government/ politics, and the intelligence/ secret services."
"That's how the Muslims have done it in the past, especially when they were in power and glorious. Leave behind the token Jew here and there just to appear non-discriminatory.
"Then send the Jews packing on a different ship to their own territory or maybe the South Pole to live with the penguins. Do this before they claim we gonna do another 'holocaust.' There's no Jew better than an exile Jew."
Mr. Hossain could not be reached for comment. He said last year that he had only made his comments in private online chat rooms, but the messages can be viewed by anyone using a simple Google search.
The National Post reported in January that the Bangladeshi-Canadian, then a student at the University of Toronto's Mississauga campus, had been approached by the RCMP due to his online activities.
Police apparently took an interest in Mr. Hossain after he posted messages on the Internet about the arrests of several suspects accused of plotting terrorist attacks at a German military base.
"We should do that here in Canada as well," he wrote. "Kill as many Western soldiers as well so that they think twice before entering foreign countries on behalf of their Jew masters ... if there were any planned attacks against Canadian/American soldiers by 'Muslim militants' in Canadian soil, I'd support it."
He continued that Western countries deserved terrorist attacks such as 9/11 and the 2005 transit bombings in London, "cause then they have fear and respect of Muslims."
Mr. Hossain had also chronicled his dealings with police in his online writings. "You can't charge me for possessing a thought," he wrote, adding that he "honestly got a kick out of pissing off the RCMP ... HAHAHA."
In response, Liberal Senator Colin Kenny said Mr. Hossain should be prosecuted to send a message "that talking like that isn't very smart." Mr. Hossain's mother told The Associated Press her son was an "idiot."
University of Toronto students responded with a campaign to have him expelled, but he defended himself, writing that he did not condone violence and that, "I'm tryna wake people up."
Canada's hate crimes laws are rarely used but there have been several recent cases across the country. Last February, Keith Francis William Noble of Prince George, B. C., was convicted over a website that targeted minorities.
In 2006, Reinhard Gustav Mueller of Edmonton, who claimed he received radio signals from space, was sentenced to 16 months for his depictions of Jews on his Internet site.
A fringe political candidate in Ontario was recently charged over anti-gay comments. Last January, former University of Saskatchewan math lecturer Terence Tremaine was charged with promoting hatred over anti-Jewish comments on the Internet. He has pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Rudner said he did not know why the Crown felt the comments of Mr. Hossain did not meet the threshold for criminal prosecution.