Ontario prosecutors want a Toronto man who tried to join Islamic State militants in Syria to spend six years behind bars, while his defence team is pushing for a sentence of about half that given what they say is their client's commitment to deradicalization.
Pamir Hakimzadah, 29, pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of leaving Canada to participate in a terrorist activity.
He was turned in to local authorities by a taxi driver in Turkey who suspected Hakimzadah wanted to join the terrorist group, and was sent back to Canada. A family member then turned him over to police two years later. Hakimzadah admitted he viewed Islamic State militant propaganda videos online and became sympathetic to their viewpoint.
"Mr. Hakimzadah is 29 years old, a first time federal offender," Rados told the court. "He had turned 25 at the time of the offence. He's at an interesting age, not so young and highly impressionable or manipulatable, but not so old he can't turn his life around dramatically.""We have no insight from anybody how he did come to these beliefs," Walsh said. "Without any insight into how he was radicalized, there's no basis that he can be deradicalized.
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