TORONTO — An RCMP informant's decision to go public with how he infiltrated a group accused of plotting terror attacks on Canadian soil has infuriated the lawyer of one of the accused, who says the group was set up.Rocco, you scamp... now I'm sitting here, waiting for you to pull out the unorthodox but wily "acquit them, so they can search for the real terrorists" defense.
Mubin Shaikh's apparent involvement in a police operation that resulted in 17 men and youth charged last month “shows there is no terrorism in Canada,” lawyer Rocco Galati said.
Isn't that Rocco "We now live in Colombia" Galati?
"I received the message. I take it seriously. And I am withdrawing from all my national security cases," Galati told reporters Thursday. Galati says be believes the message was from someone involved with a U.S. intelligence agency. "This is serious. This is an institutional threat. It's not an individual threat," Galati said. "The voice is similar and likely the same as a voice of someone who threatened one of our former clients," he said, adding later that "in that case, our client disappeared."
As he spoke, he choked back tears but said it wasn't because he feared for his safety. "I'm on the verge of tears because it means we now live in Colombia because the rule of law is meaningless. It means that lawyers cannot represent anyone even in what you profess to be a democracy here in Canada." (CTV.ca Fri. Dec. 5 2003 7:50 AM ET)