A Crown prosecutor says a Calgary man who willingly joined and worked for an Islamic State terrorist group within the Middle East over a decade ago should spend 16 years in prison, while a defence lawyer has really helpful 12 years.
Jamal Borhot, 35, was convicted in December of three counts of participation in a terrorist group for assisting within the terrorist activities of ISIS in Syria in 2013.
Court heard Borhot and his cousin Hussein Borhot illegally entered Syria through Turkey.
Hussein Borhot pleaded guilty in a separate trial and was sentenced in 2022 to 12 years.
In December, Justice Corina Dario found Jamal Borhot participated in violent acts, actively recruited others to hitch the cause and worked in administration.
He returned to Calgary after one 12 months.
Jamal Borhot travelled to Syria in 2013 along with his cousin Hussein Borhot, seen here outside the Calgary Court Centre, after pleading guilty in a separate trial in 2022.
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The judge is scheduled to sentence Borhot on Feb. 4.
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At a sentencing hearing Friday, prosecutor Kent Brown said 16 years is suitable for Jamal Borhot, because the cousin received less time for his pleas.
“The main focus stays deterrence and denunciation and that is essentially because of the pernicious nature of terrorism offences. Anyone who engages in those activities should expect a big sentence in consequence,” Brown said.
Borhot planned the trip to Syria and tried to cover his movements, the prosecutor said.
“There was real risk of significant harm brought on by the offender’s conduct. I submit that’s without query here, given his involvement in battles in Syria.”
Brown added outside court that the case was difficult to prosecute because it happened so way back. “It’s a chilly case that happened in a rustic half way all over the world.”
Defence lawyer Pawel Milczarek said his client has lived a peaceful life since returning to Canada and will have a sentence that’s proportionate to his cousin’s prison time.
Milczarek said Borhot became radicalized and desired to help fight the Syrian government, as he believed it was randomly slaughtering civilians.
“Mr. Borhot was motivated by this purpose to travel to Syria. He found the flawed group to fight with,” the lawyer said.
“With 20/20 hindsight, we are able to all discover that ISIS became a violent terrorist organization after Mr. Borhot left Syria. We must always not harshly punish Mr. Borhot for making a mistake with imperfect information.”
Borhot didn’t address the court.
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