Calgary man gets 6 years for facilitating terrorism through posting of TikTok video

The Calgary Courts Centre in Calgary, Alta., Monday, March 11, 2019.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

A Calgary man was sentenced to six years for terrorism-related offences Friday.

Zakarya Hussein, 20, pled guilty in December to facilitating terrorist activity.

On Friday, Justice Harry Van Harten accepted a joint proposal from prosecutor Domenic Puglia and defence lawyer Alain Hepner that Hussein serve six years in jail.

The charges stemmed from the posting of a TikTok video in May that prosecutors said contributed to or facilitated terrorist activity for al-Qaida and the Islamic State group, which received comments online from other users that included "I$I$ and proud," and "the video itself is very motivational."

The statement said Hussein then posted a Snapchat message on June 1 that his mission would begin the next day.

"It's Pride month," he said. "I've been waiting."

Hussein then referred to two different types of explosive devices and one of those devices matched what was described in the handwritten instructions seized from his bedroom, says the statement.

It said he shared a video to a group chat containing "extremist ideological interpretations that encouraged the killing of gay men."

Court documents also alleged that Hussein possessed or prepared bomb-making instructions.

Puglia said that Hussein’s hatred towards the 2SLGBT+ community was an aggravating factor that should be considered in his sentencing.

Friday, in an email to CTV News, Puglia said he wasn’t sure whether Hussein’s anti-2SLGBTQ+ comments played a role in the length of sentence.

“The Crown argued that those statements were an aggravating factor the Justice should consider on sentence;” Puglia said, “but as the Justice didn't address that exact point expressly in his reasons for decision, I don't think I can say for sure it was a factor, just that the Crown argued it should be.”

With credit for time served, Hussein has around four years remaining in his sentence.

With files from The Canadian Press