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Federal Crown prosecutors told the court in their closing arguments Thursday that the man charged with carrying out a terrorist attack in Surrey should be found guilty, pending a hearing to determine if he should be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.
On April 1, 2023, Abdul Aziz Kawam attempted to kill one victim and assaulted another in Surrey. The victim's names are covered under a publication ban.
Kawam was arrested for attempted murder after allegedly slashing two people's throats in the 14800 block of Fraser Highway on April 1, 2023. One victim was attacked at the bus stop, and the other was attacked on the 503 Coast Mountain bus at Fraser Highway and 148 Street.
Kawam was charged with attempting to commit murder, in association with a terrorist group; assault causing bodily harm, in association with a terrorist group; aggravated assault, in association with a terrorist group; and assault with a weapon, in association with a terrorist group.
Federal Crown prosecutor Sharon Steele presented her closing submissions to the court Thursday morning (May 8) during the final day of the judge-only trial.
The facts of the attack are not in dispute, the Crown said. "The question for the court to answer is whether these offences were committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a terrorist group," she said.
The Crown explained, "considered in its totality, the only reasonable inference is that Mr. Kawam's attacks were done in the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with the Islamic State."
The Crown then described the key evidence that led to this finding of believing Kawam was guilty, which included the 9-1-1 call, a pledge of allegiance video, the Islamic State propaganda that he had consumed, and encrypted text messages on his phone.
Day of the attack
The Crown went on to describe the morning of the attack.
One of the victims, who was on their way to work, was waiting at the bus stop at around 9:10 a.m. when the accused approached them and asked if they were Muslim. The victim said no.
"Mr. Kawam went back to the bus stop, prayed for approximately two minutes, returned, taking a large knife out of his jacket and attacked the victim, aiming a slashing motion at the victim's neck," the Crown said.
The victim then pushed Kawam and ran while the accused chased after him with the "knife still in hand." The first victim was able to escape and called 9-1-1.
The Crown then described the second incident, in which the second victim boarded the same bus as the accused at around 9:23 a.m.
"Approximately three minutes into the ride, I'll note unprovoked, with no prior discussion or interaction between the parties, Mr. Kawam attacked the victim with the knife, slashing at the victim's neck three times. The victim used his body to push Mr. Kawam out of the bus. The victim was seriously injured in the attack," the Crown said.
They explained why it was significant that Kawam asked the victim if they were Muslim. In the days before the attack, Kawam downloaded a document from Telegram that "explained that it is not permissible to kill Muslims until it is proven that they committed an eye deferment, the shedding of blood which links to the question posed to the first victim," the Crown said. The accused was "striving to conform to the morality of the Islamic State as he understood it."
Another piece of evidence that is important is that Kawam used a knife in the attack. "The attack technique, using a knife to slash at the victims' throats, is consistent with the Islamic State's signature execution style," the Crown said.
There is "abundant evidence" of Kawam's motive for the attack, Steele said.
This includes the 9-1-1 call, a pledge of allegiance video that he made 10 days before the attack and the amount of "Islamic State propaganda" that he consumed in the time leading up to the attack.
"His inspiration was unambiguous," the Crown argued.
Accused made 9-1-1 call himself
The Crown described the 9-1-1 call as a significant piece of evidence as it shows the accused's "state of mind" at the time of the attack and his intentions.
Kawam told the 9-1-1 operator that he pledged his allegiance to Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurashi, the leader of the Islamic State at the time.
"I will also note parenthetically that there had been a number of changes to the leaders of the Islamic State in recent years, so the fact that he was aware of the current leader at that point in time speaks to more than merely a passing engagement with the Islamic State information," the Crown added.
The operator asked Kawam what had happened.
"Mr. Kawam replies, 'On behalf of the Islamic State, I just did an attack in the bus,'" Steele said. At this point, the operator asked Kawam to confirm whether he had done the attack and where the bus was located.
"Then Mr. Kawam makes a slightly lengthier statement that echoes many of the sentiments in the Pledge of Allegiance that we saw on the phone," the Crown said.
This includes a reference to wanting the "war to end." Earlier in the trial, the expert had testified that "this reflects the sentiment within the Islamic State Network that there is an ongoing war between the Islamic State and the Western nations," the Crown said.
Kawam went on to tell the operator that he wanted people to convert to Islam or pay the jizya to the Islamic State. The Oxford dictionary defines jizya as a tax that non-Muslim populations pay to Muslim rulers. "The expert testified that this notion of jizya is particular to not just jihadist thinking, but the Islamic State, particularly," the Crown said.
Kawam then told the 9-1-1 operator, "Don't be a fool and hide this message from your people, because this will hurt civilians."
This attack was not personal, as the Crown explained. "It was intended to convey a message to the wider community in support of Islamic State objectives."
The operator then asks Kawam why he did this, and there is no further dialogue.
Content on Kawam's phone
Another key piece of evidence in the trial was a 'pledge of allegiance' video.
On the first day of the holy month of Ramadan (March 22), 10 days before the attack, Kawam recorded a video of the pledge of allegiance on his cellphone. In the video, he pledged his allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State at the time, told Westerners to convert to Islam or pay the jizya. He also identified himself as a Mujahideen, a jihadi fighter.
"(He) urged monotheists to jihad, promised slaughter at Dabiq, which is a Muslim analog to Armageddon, and discussed an operation during the month of Ramadan, which is, of course, significant because he does, in fact, commit his attacks during the month of Ramadan," the Crown said.
The same day the video was created, he had a text conversation with someone about deleting Telegram messages "in anticipation of an operation," the Crown said.
Several videos containing Islamic State propaganda were downloaded to Kawam's phone that very same day.
He continued to access "Islamic State content" in the 10 days leading up to the attacks, the Crown said.
"In the early morning hours of April 3, 2023 before the attacks, there was a series of web searches suggesting that he was considering a possible trip or move to Lebanon," the Crown said.
Defence counsel Kevin Westell did not have any closing arguments to present.
On Wednesday (May 8) Westell said, "At the close of the evidence, and from the expert, I'm prepared to formally concede, on the record, that is the defence position that all the elements of Section 83.2, the terrorism provisions, we concede that those have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt."
"We are leaving open the possibility of trying the case from the perspective of an NCRMD (not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder) verdict, so we're not conceding a full conviction at this point."
The trial was adjourned until July 14, 2025, but Justice Miriam Gropper's hearing to deliver her decision is expected to be scheduled before the second week of June.
