Earlier this month Calgarian Jamal Borhot was sentenced to 16 years in prison for travelling to Syria more than a decade ago and taking part in the activities of terrorist organizations.

For many, Borhot’s conduct is incomprehensible. Why would a young man enjoying the creature comforts of living in a free society such as Canada’s not only want to join individuals committing extremely heinous acts, but risk one’s own life to do so?

Yet Borhot’s case is not an isolated one. Certainly, such instances are few and far between, but the reality exists that many have been radicalized by online content to believe such conduct is somehow for a greater good.

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No evidence of remorse

More concerning is there’s no real evidence to say the 35-year-old Borhot who was sentenced by Calgary Court of King’s Bench Justice Corinna Dario, is a changed man from the early-20-something Borhot who was lured to Syria’s conflict in the first place.

As Dario noted in her sentencing decision, there’s really no way to know if Borhot has eschewed the radical beliefs that drew him to the activities of terrorist groups in the first place.

While Dario was presented with a series of letters of support for Borhot, who has lived peacefully in Calgary for more than a decade since he returned here in April 2014, no one could provide the judge with the comfort that the ideology he adhered to while fighting Syrian troops in an attempt to establish an ISIS Caliphate in the Middle East, is no longer one he ascribes to.

“There is no evidence the offender’s views have changed,” Dario said in her written sentencing decision.

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“None of the letters of support speak to his current beliefs or repudiation of his extremist beliefs. The conversations the offender had with others captured by wiretap suggest his beliefs had not changed and he continued to support the installation of a Salafist (fundamentalist Sunni) government in Syria,” Dario wrote.

“There is no evidence the offender’s reasons for leaving Syria (in 2014) involved abandonment of his beliefs. Further, the offender has not expressed remorse or taken responsibility for these offences, including after his conviction.”

Borhot certainly isn’t the first offender to not express extreme regret for their conduct post-conviction.

Often, it is to an individual’s disadvantage to apologize and show contrition for crimes for which they have been found guilty pending a potential appeal of those judicial findings.

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But considering the severity of the allegations against Borhot, that he joined Al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, and took part in actual combat, for the purpose of advancing those groups’ agenda.

“He used firearms, including AK-47 machine guns, with the intention of killing anyone who was non-Muslim. He intended those violent acts to aid the Islamic State in achieving their goals. These are terrorist activities,” Dario said.

Even his own mother, Zenaib Borhot, could not offer the court any comfort that her son had grown out of his radicalized beliefs.

“Even years after the offender returned to Canada, he expressed a desire to return to Syria to fight the American army in Syria,” the judge noted.

“On May 12, 2020, the offender described to Zenaib the political state of affairs in the Middle East and expressed a desire to return to Syria to see the American army defeated by the Islamic State.”

Clearly, Borhot could not be locked up forever for partaking in activities in a foreign land that could not be proven to have actually caused physical harm to others, despite his intended desires.

So, one day he will have served his time and be returned to Canadian society a free man.

Hopefully at that time, those around him will be able to convince him it’s the creature comforts of life in the west which are truly worth fighting for.

KMartin@postmedia.com

© Calgary Herald