“This new examination found a history of misrepresentations by Mr. Chaudhry and no corroboration that he committed the atrocities he described in the ‘Caliphate’ podcast,” the paper said. The RCMP said at the time that Chaudhry’s claims in numerous media interviews of travelling to Syria in 2016 to join the Islamic State raised public safety concerns among Canadians. Shaikh says he first got into contact with Chaudhry in late 2016 at the suggestion of The New York Times reporter Rukmini Callimachi. The hoax charge requires prosecutors to prove Chaudhry intended “to cause any person to fear death, bodily harm.” That could also be a challenge. “It is far from evident from the Caliphate podcast that Mr. Chaudhry’s intent in telling his story was to cause such fear about prospective (future) harm,” Nesbitt said.

Source: thestar December 26, 2020 12:56 UTC