Updated Martin Couture-Rouleau case underscores passport seizure dilemma
Martin (Ahmad) Couture-Rouleau's passport was seized by authorities who feared he wanted to go overseas to take part in terrorism, blocking him from leaving Canada and highlighting a dilemma facing security officials dealing with the threat of militants on home soil.
Couture-Rouleau was arrested at the airport in July while on his way to Turkey, RCMP Supt. Martine Fontaine said at a news conference in Montreal.
The case highlights the problem for officials who stop citizens from leaving Canada because of terrorism fears: those persons remain in Canada, perhaps with the intention of causing harm to others.
One more person to watch in Canada
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson touched on the problem Tuesday on Parliament Hill: asked whether it was possible Couture-Rouleau became more dangerous after his passport was taken away, Paulson said "certainly that's what follows from the analysis."
A top official at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, speaking at a Senate committee meeting Monday, put the dilemma more bluntly.
"For every individual that we prevent, every extremist that we prevent from going overseas to engage in extremist activity, is one more individual that we have to investigate closely because they're radicalized to the point that they want to leave,"
Martin Couture-Rouleau, pictured holding the Qur'an, had changed the name on his Facebook account to Ahmad the Converted. (Facebook)
"This was a despicable act of violence that strikes against not just this soldier and his colleagues but frankly against our very values as a civilized democracy," Harper said in the House.