Canada man who travelled to Syria to join IS pleads guilty to terrorism-related activities

A Canadian man who traveled to Syria to join the militant group Islamic State pleaded guilty on Thursday to terrorism-related activities.

Hussein Borhot, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of participating in terrorism group activity between 9 May and 7 June 2014, and the commission of the offence of kidnapping for a terrorist group while in Syria.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested him in July 2020 after a seven-year investigation which also involved the FBI and US Department of Defense.

An agreed statement of facts says Borhot travelled to Syria through Turkey to join the Islamic State. He signed up as a fighter, received substantial training and excelled as a sniper.

He did not tell his wife about the trip, said the document.

Court heard that Borhot revealed much of the information to an undercover officer after he returned to Canada.

Borhot told the officer that he and some other Islamic State fighters traveled to a village, where they kidnapped a number of opposing fighters, said the document.

He also said he had sworn an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State and expressed a desire to return and fight in Syria.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice David Labrenz accepted the pleas and adjourned the case to next month for a sentencing hearing.

The maximum sentence on the second offence is life in prison.

Borhot remains on bail with strict conditions, including wearing ankle-tracking devices, not applying for travel documents, and heeding a ban on having firearms, ammunition or explosives.