'Canada is nothing,' grieving dad says

Vows to return to Somalia after charges dropped against son's accused killers

By IAN ROBERTSON, SUN MEDIA

Last Updated: 27th February 2009, 4:03am

Feeling betrayed and sad after yesterday's release of two men accused of killing his son, Ahmed Abdikarim Mohammed said he will take his wife and their five children back to Africa "this week."

"Canada is nothing ... the Canadian government is nothing," he said at the front door of the family's modest North York bungalow, in the Dufferin St.-Lawrence Ave. W. area.

"I go," Mohammed, 58, told the Sun. "My plan is this week to go, all together."

Charges were dropped yesterday against Owen Anthony Smith and Wendell Damian Cuff, both 25, in the March 14, 2008, shooting of 18-year-old Abdikarim Ahmed Abdikarim in Lawrence Heights.

Prosecutor Joe Callaghan cited "insufficient" evidence.

'I GIVE YOU EVERYTHING'

A friend said Mohammed was captain of Somalia's national soccer team in the 1970s and '80s and a onetime bodyguard for Qatar's sultan.

"I die in Somalia," the victim's father said. "That's the end for me."

A cabbie here, Mohammed added, "I give you the plates, I give you everything. I don't want to be a cab driver."

The grieving dad said he must leave the body of his son buried until arrangements can be made for it to be exhumed and shipped to Somalia.

Though the family of the slain teen will be on the other side of the world, Mohammed said any arrangements would be aided by friends here, and the Somalian community.

After the fatal shooting, which also left five of the George Harvey Collegiate Grade 12 victim's friends wounded, Shamso Mohamoud told a reporter her slain son's last words to her were a promise: "'Mommy, don't worry. I'm going to be back at 9:30 for sure.'"

More than 2,000 people attended the teen's funeral.

Earlier yesterday outside court, two Somali community members approached reporters with angry comments about the two men's release.

Barlin Ali, who said she grew up in the African country with Abdikirim's mother, calling him "like my son," said "there is no justice in Canada.

"Why did these people go to jail for 11 months and they are not criminal?" she said.

Somalian community leader Mohamed Gilao said "we feel unsafe in Canada," despite surveillance cameras "everywhere."

Gilao, a grieving dad himself, alleged continuing racism against blacks and vowed the Somalian community is "going to fight back."

His son Loyan Ahmed Gilao, 22, was gunned down with a friend outside the Phoenix Nightclub on Aug. 8, 2005. His killer has never been caught.

IAN.ROBERTSON@SUNMEDIA.CA

source: http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/02/27/8551266-sun.html

Coming from a Somalian, that hurts. Our government might be nothing, but at least we actually have one.

I agree though, being a pirate or a war lord is probably much more fun than driving a cab around North York.

^^Uncalled for.

What the man says is true. Our justice system is a joke. We should be far more stringent and give automatic life sentences for murder, no matter what the background is. You take a life, you pay with your own.

whoa whoa whoa.. rather than simply assume the men were guilty because they went to trial, does anyone here really know what happened, and why the trial was ended? I find capital punishment to be
barbaric.

^^Uncalled for.

What the man says is true. Our justice system is a joke. We should be far more stringent and give automatic life sentences for murder, no matter what the background is. You take a life, you pay with your own.

Agreed!

whoa whoa whoa.. rather than simply assume the men were guilty because they went to trial, does anyone here really know what happened, and why the trial was ended? I find capital punishment to be
barbaric.

Not capital punishment, but life in prison. I believe it's far worse than execution because you get to suffer for a long time.

Not capital punishment, but life in prison. I believe it's far worse than execution because you get to suffer for a long time.

Life in Canadian prison isn't really that bad, they have 3 meals a day, TV to watch, gym room etc. I think they should be executed once they are found quilty.

Life in Canadian prison isn't really that bad, they have 3 meals a day, TV to watch, gym room etc. I think they should be executed once they are found quilty.

I believe in capital punishment, but that's not a popular opinion in leftist Canada. Apparently everyone is good deep inside, so they get unlimited second chances!

I think the punishment for murder should be the victim's family gets to kill you, it happens in a lot of developing countries and apparently engages the public with a sense of justice more than here, where we're completely detached from the system and at the mercy of inept prosecutors and judges. Only avenging the crime will do it for the victims; execution is so... impersonal and you don't get the satisfaction from being involved.

According to the Globe and Mail: The trial ended because the video did not clearly show the murderer's faces, and no witnesses could be found to identify them, so it was declared impossible to prove who the murderers were. While there were survivors of the shooting (at least 4 according to the article) they were unwilling to come forward, possibly because of a "no snitch" rule imposed by gangs. If they came forward, they would be murdered for it as well. Since it is gang related, if you put the murderer away, more will just step up to take his place. The root cause of this situation then isn't a murderer but gang culture.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090227.DROPPED27/TPStory/National

An automatic life sentence would be nice, but they couldn't even get that far because, Filip, they could not identify the murderer. Who are they going to give the life sentence to? Perhaps we should stop using shitty cameras for security and invest in technology that can actually identify people. Thunder Bay has dozens of cameras all over town but they can't identify people because the resolution is so low, faces are just a blur. That kind of evidence isn't admissible in court because it is too ambiguous, and could lead to an innocent person being incarcerated.

A lot of the posts in this thread are the result of emotion. "OMG! He killed someone. Let's kill him!" An eye for an eye just makes everybody blind. And this is coming from someone who lost a family member to murder and then saw that murderer walk away pretty much free 9 months later. I'd be even more angry if an innocent person was arrested in his place.

Well, thank the Lord that we don't have you yahoos running our justice system, executing people left, right, and center , even though, as in this case, the crown simply could not prove its case. What is the crown supposed to do? Declare vigilante justice and have the boys hung up from a tree by the parents?

Sometimes I'm very afraid by what I read on these forums.

Vid's comment, by the way, is spot on. Somalia has no government and a homicide rate of 30/100,000 and is under constant low-intensity warfare. I'll take what we have.

I also find it interesting how murder is a none issue in Serbia. I'd go as far as saying that the streets in Belgrade are far safer than any city I've been to, and can give Toronto a run for its money. I just don't understand how in what is referred to as uncivilized Europe can be more humane than the civilized one.

I also find it interesting how murder is a none issue in Serbia. I'd go as far as saying that the streets in Belgrade are far safer than any city I've been to, and can give Toronto a run for its money. I just don't understand how in what is referred to as uncivilized Europe can be more humane than the civilized one.

They are pretty close, with Serbia's homicide rates slightly lower. But Serbia, aside from all the exaggerated press it gets as a European bogeyman, has (essentially) a very orderly state in which rule of law prevails. Its court system is based on the Napoleonic French code and is, in fact, similar to the Criminal Code of Canada when it comes to sentencing provisions. Oh, and much like CCC, the Serbian code bans capital punishment.

A lot of the posts in this thread are the result of emotion. "OMG! He killed someone. Let's kill him!" An eye for an eye just makes everybody blind.

An eye for an eye makes the most people happy. People in civilized countries have been completely sedated and no longer passionate about justice, as they are far removed from the processes of avenging wrongdoing. All they can do wait on the lengthy investigations, try to understand the lengthy proceedings, and years later finally look on helplessly (now bored stiff) as the criminals are either sentenced or freed because of a technicality. This kind of system kills the human spirit whether or not justice is served. "Without a doubt" is overrated, it justifies ridiculously long trials and appeals, freeing muderers/terrorists, and they still manage to incarcerate innocent people every now and then. I say we crank down the accuracy a bit, thereby speed up the process exponentially and punish everyone who we're "sure" did it, cuz chances are they did do it, and the righting of many many more wrongs more than makes up for the occasional mistake. And people will be so much more excited about the justice system.

This thread has gone a bit OT, but I agree with stiffer sentences and quicker processing for chronic offenders. Recently BC police advocated a "30 strikes and your out" policy towards offenders instead of what we have now (unlimited chances); 30 strikes lol.

^^Uncalled for.

Yeah, but pretty nicely worded and witty!

Wow, finally good to see some other Canadians agreeing with what I have stated for years and years.

Canada is a big floppy joke. Plain and simple.
Laws are DISGUSTING, and jail isn't so bad at all. I have a cousin who went to jail, and actually had a decent time. He also said, it can make you much worse, and schooled in criminal acitivities. Luckily he turned for good, but it was very easy for him to come back out and be a high profile criminal.

I also don't understand how there isn't more temporary insanity cases. If someone killed my fiancee, mom, brother, etc... I know for a fact I'd have to murder them cold blooded. Only because I know Canada will slap them on the wrist, through them in jail, feed them well, and wish them goodluck in 10 years.

Makes me so angry just talking about it.

Wow, finally good to see some other Canadians agreeing with what I have stated for years and years.

Canada is a big floppy joke. Plain and simple.
Laws are DISGUSTING, and jail isn't so bad at all. I have a cousin who went to jail, and actually had a decent time. He also said, it can make you much worse, and schooled in criminal acitivities. Luckily he turned for good, but it was very easy for him to come back out and be a high profile criminal.

I also don't understand how there isn't more temporary insanity cases. If someone killed my fiancee, mom, brother, etc... I know for a fact I'd have to murder them cold blooded. Only because I know Canada will slap them on the wrist, through them in jail, feed them well, and wish them goodluck in 10 years.

Makes me so angry just talking about it.

Agreed! I know a lady whose daughter was murdered in East Vancouver. The guy who stabbed that knife in her heart got only 7 years and get this, he was let out early for good behavior. I say take the murderers out back and shoot them.

Reading stories like this makes me wish for vigilante justice...once in a while!!!

The two guys who killed the 18 year old Somali should be hunted down and either shot or sent to Somalia...let them decide on their punishment!

Agreed! I know a lady whose daughter was murdered in East Vancouver. The guy who stabbed that knife in her heart got only 7 years and get this, he was let out early for good behavior. I say take the murderers out back and shoot them.

Oh my God, are you serious?

See? It's sooooooooooo disgusting! There isn't a 1% survival rate for someone who did that to my family. The murderer would either be dead before entering jail, or murdered when they got out. Man, woman, or child.

Canada is gross.

West Toronto is falling a part. That place is a scary hole. I try my best to turn back when I am about to cross Yonge street.

instead of avoiding an area do somthing about it