An ISIS-affiliated Islamist and two accomplices sexually assaulted women, targeted the Jewish community, and planned to carry out abductions, police said in a statement on Friday announcing the indictments against the three men, who were arrested in August.
The men — Waleed Khan, 26, Osman Azizov, 18, and Fahad Sadaat, 19, all from Toronto — face a total of 75 charges for "offenses targeting women and members of the Jewish community" involving sexual assaults and attempted abductions. The indictments followed a joint forces investigation, the Toronto Police Service said in a statement.
In a separate statement, federal authorities said Friday that Khan had provided funding and "social media accounts" to ISIS and was charged with "terrorism-related offenses." The federal statement did not mention the two remaining defendants.
Khan was already charged in August with 33 offenses related to kidnapping, firearms, and auto theft, at around the same time as the arrest of his alleged accomplices. The terrorism charges brought against Khan and the indictment against the two alleged accomplices are new.
Superintendent James Parr in a statement called the indictments "the culmination of a significant investigation" to "disrupt threats to national security and preserve public safety."
The indictments follow raised awareness in many countries for the safety of Jewish minorities after the Dec. 14 Bondi Beach massacre in Sydney, Australia, where a suspected jihadist was indicted for the murder of 15 people at a Hanukkah party along with his father, who was killed in exchanges of fire during the attack.
On Dec. 19, Roman Baber, a Canadian member of Parliament (York Centre) who is Jewish, wrote an open letter to Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, warning that "Toronto's Jewish community is no longer safe" amid weekly anti-Israel protests that are staged at heavily Jewish neighborhoods and include "threats and disturb the peace."
The investigation, titled Project Neapolitan, into the actions of the three defendants whose indictment was announced on Dec. 19 began with two violent incidents in the Greater Toronto Area, police said.
On May 31, three men approached a woman in the Don Mills Road and Rochefort Drive area, police said. One man was armed with a handgun and another with a knife. "The suspects attempted to force her into a vehicle but fled when interrupted by a passing motorist," the report said. In June, the defendants allegedly chased two women and tried to abduct them.
The incidents helped police identify the three men, and during their arrest, police encountered evidence suggesting a terrorist link, including firearms, the police statement said.
"The evidence gathered expanded the scope of the investigation to include additional offenses motivated by hate — particularly targeting women and members of the Jewish community. Investigators also uncovered links to terrorism, prompting a separate but parallel" federal investigation, police said.
Certain aspects of the investigation remain undisclosed to ensure the integrity of the judicial process, police added.
All three suspects have been charged with "two counts of sexual assault with a weapon" along with conspiring to abduct and commit further sexual assaults, according to the police statement. It did not specify the circumstances of the alleged sexual assaults.
The defendants are due to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto on Jan. 29.
B'nai Brith Canada said the development underlines the seriousness of the threat facing Canadian Jews.
"The failure of Canadian leaders to actively respond to the 124% increase in antisemitism over the last two years has jeopardized the safety and security of the Jewish community. Though law enforcement was able to mitigate the threat in this instance, this underscores the need for urgent action to combat antisemitism and confront violent extremism in Canada," B'nai Brith Canada wrote in a statement.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, thanked law enforcement "for their work to bring justice to these antisemitic and hate-motivated acts," he wrote on X.
This JNS.org report was republished with permission from Jewish News Syndicate.
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