Ismaël Habib (born 1988) is the first Canadian adult to be found guilty following a trial of a new Canadian law that prohibits people from trying to leave Canada to participate in the activities of a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

group. The Canadian law, section 83.181, was created by the

conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Min ...

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

in 2013. Habib had gone to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

in 2013 and allegedly had contacts with

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

ist groups fighting the Syrian government of

Bashar al-Assad Bashar al-Assad (born 11September 1965) is a Syrian politician, military officer and former dictator Sources characterising Assad as a dictator: who served as the president of Syria from 2000 until fall of the Assad regime, his government ...

. Upon his return to

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, he made several attempts to acquire a false passport. He claims this was to find his wife and two children found in

ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

-controlled territory in Syria. However, the Canadian authorities claimed it was an effort on his part to join ISIL. In a long-running sting operation starting in 2015, the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) implicated him in plans to join ISIL. Habib was first detained in February 2016 in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

, Quebec, when he was charged with threatening his girlfriend in a domestic violence case. This led the authorities to charge him with the terror-related counts in Montreal. In June 2017, he was found guilty of attempting "to leave Canada to commit a terrorist act". On 29 September 2017, he was sentenced to nine years in prison including eight years for attempting to leave Canada and one year for providing false information to obtain a passport. The sentences are to be served consecutively minus the time he's already served in custody.CBC.ca: Quebec man who tried to join ISIS sentenced to 9 years - Ismael Habib found guilty in June of trying to leave Canada to participate in terrorist activity
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Habib, Ismael 1988 births Living people 21st-century Canadian criminals Terrorism in Canada