MMK Takeaway

Momin Khawaja -- the first person to be charged and sentenced under Canada’s anti-terrorism legislation -- has received an additional 10 and a half years in prison, on top the the five or so he has already spent in custody.

I’m still working through Judge Rutherford’s reasoning, but the near-consensus in the legal community seems to be this: What this case proves, more than anything, is that Canada can prosecute and convict terror within the broad parameters of the existing criminal code. No need for secret trials, no need for Gitmoesque prisons. And -- almost certainly -- no need for the two anti-terror provisions that expired and which the Conservatives are trying to renew -- the ones pertaining to preventive arrest and coercive testimony.

Hooray for Canada.

UPDATE: Here’s a link to Judge Rutherford’s Reasons for Sentence.