Megan O'Toole
Thursday, May 31, 2012
A Toronto man accused of plotting to join a Somali terrorist group will go to trial next February, a spokesperson for federal prosecutors confirmed Thursday.
Mohamed Hersi appeared briefly in court this week, where his trial date was set for Feb. 25, 2013. He is also scheduled to return to court in June to continue a judicial pretrial.
Mr. Hersi was arrested at Pearson airport last spring as he waited to board a flight to Cairo, which police allege would have been his first stop en route to Somalia to join al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group.
Freed on bail in April 2011, Mr. Hersi stands charged with two terrorism offences, including attempting to participate in a terrorist group and counselling another person to do the same.
Late last year, the Crown opted to skip the traditional preliminary hearing and move straight to trial “in the public interest to move things along,” but Mr. Hersi’s lawyer was critical of the move.
His trial is expected to last eight weeks.