Islamic terrorist Saad Akhtar made Canadian history in a Toronto courtroom last week when he pleaded guilty to murder while committing a terrorist act. Akhtar admitted he bludgeoned innocent bystander “Annie” Hang-Kam Chiu, 64, to death with a hammer on Feb. 21, 2020. The guilty plea made the 31-year-old the first person to be convicted under this section of the Criminal Code. The court sentenced Akhtar to life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Akhtar selected the victim because she was alone, not strong, and was the appropriate height to be attacked with a hammer. He knocked Chiu to the ground with a punch, then fractured her skull with the hammer as she lay helpless on the ground.
Akhtar left one of two pre-written notes under the victim’s body. He was hoping police would kill him, the court heard. The note read, “Islamic State Baqiya.” Baqiya is a derivative term for the official motto of the Islamic State, “Baquiya wa Tatamaddad,” which is Arabic for “Remaining and Expanding.” Islamic supporters shorten that expression to simply “Baqiya,” which expresses their desire to maintain the Islamic State caliphate in Syria (“remaining”) and continue their territorial expansion until Judgment Day.
Government prosecutor Andrew Pilla described the slaying as he read the agreed statement of facts. Three hours after murdering the complete stranger, Akhtar, covered in blood and carrying a homemade bomb in a bag, surrendered to the police and confessed he had executed the killing, something that he’d been planning since September 2019.
“The murder was a terrorist attack done in the name of the Islamic State and other attackers have targeted random people all over the world,” Pilla quoted Akhtar as telling cops. “There is a war on Islam and there must be retaliation for what is being done on Muslim lands,” Akhtar told detectives.
The victim’s sister, Winnie Chiu, said in her statement that Annie was eagerly anticipating her retirement weeks before her slaying. “Annie mentioned on Jan. 24, 2020, at a family gathering, with excitement that this was the year, after working hard for over 40 years, at the age of 65, she could finally retire and enjoy her life,” wrote Winnie Chiu. “I would never have imagined, within less than a month, she would be a victim of such a violent and lethal act, that abruptly ended her life,” she wrote. “I am devastated and heartbroken, at the same time.”
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