B.C. man acquitted of terror charges sues provincial, federal governments
VANCOUVER — A British Columbia man acquitted of terrorism-related charges has filed a lawsuit against the provincial and federal governments, arguing he was maliciously prosecuted in violation of his charter rights.
Othman Hamdan was charged in 2015 over 85 Facebook posts in which he supported some actions of Islamic State militants and celebrated “lone wolf” terrorists. Last year, a B.C. judge ruled his comments might have been offensive, but they didn’t constitute inciting terrorism.
Hamdan has filed a lawsuit that argues Canadian and B.C. authorities prosecuted him despite the absence of probable grounds supporting his guilt and chose to ignore a body of evidence that supported his innocence.
“The conduct of the defendants was reckless, intentional, deliberate, in disregard of the plaintiff’s rights, indifferent to the consequences and exploited the plaintiff’s vulnerability,” says the notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court.