A Canadian doctor of Pakistani heritage who once auditioned for a televised talent show on Tuesday became the first person in Canada to be acquitted at trial of terrorism. Khurram Sher, a 31-year-old pathologist, was arrested in a dramatic police takedown with two other suspects in 2010.
He pleaded not guilty to facilitating a terrorist activity. One of his co-accused was convicted last month of belonging to a home-grown terror cell and is awaiting sentencing. The third man has not yet gone to trial. Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland in his ruling said Sher likely harboured jihadist sympathies but that the evidence did not prove he intended to join the conspiracy.
Evidence presented at trial included circuit boards said to be for use in detonating a bomb remotely, "terrorist" books, manuals and videos, as well as a wiretap of a dinner conversation in which the group discussed attacking a military base in Canada. Other police intercepts, however, suggested that his alleged co-conspirators did not believe Sher was fully committed to "violent jihad." At trial, Sher admitted to contributing Can$400 to the group but said he believed it was intended for Kurds in Iraq. Records showed he contributed regularly to charities.
In 2008, Sher had auditioned for the television talent show "Canadian Idol," putting on an exaggerated accent and telling producers he immigrated from Pakistan. Dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez and pakul hat, he appeared in a YouTube video of the audition performing Michael Jackson's famed moonwalk and a robot dance for the judges. He also butchered Avril Lavigne's hit song "Complicated," prompting this posting on a Facebook page: "I for one am glad that he is attempting to show the nation that 'moslims' are not all extremists." Sher was born and raised in Montreal and graduated from one of Canada's most prestigious medical schools.