"I'm Not Answering"

"You are a traitor. You betray your brothers. You are no longer their brother. You are an apostate. I understand Islam better than you. [Canada  is] massacring ... brothers and sisters [taking part in the armed mission against ISIL in Iraq]."
"So the people are at fault. Oh, yes. [Democratic governments must be removed] by force if necessary."
"You must not bow down before anybody other than Allah."
15-year-old Montreal grade 10 youth, arrested for armed robbery

"At 15, normally you shouldn't be here. We shouldn't be having this discussion. You are too young. You are not the type of person who is usually in that chair."
"What we want to know is why you did it [rob a convenience store at knifepoint]."
"You are at an age where you are easily manipulated. Anyone can sing any song, and it will sound nice to your ears so you will want to follow it, and before you realize it you are going to have lots of problems."
"In 15 years as a police officer I have spoken to a lot of innocent people and a lot of guilty people and never has an innocent person spoken like this."
Brahim Soussi, RCMP investigator Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET)

Brahim Soussi, RCMP detective in the case of a West Island teenager facing terrorism charges, leaves a meeting room during a break in court at the Montreal Youth Court in Montreal on Wednesday, September 9, 2015. Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazette

"Usually when I arrest a youngster, they show signs of nervousness. They start crying. They say, 'What are my parents going to say? What are my friends going to say'?"
"I thought, either he did a lot of crimes when he was a bit younger or he was a professional at whatever he does, because he showed no emotion whatsoever."
Pasquale Spagnolo, Montreal police

Both from North Africa, both eldest sons and Arabic speakers, both Muslims, but Brahim Soussi, in his work as an RCMP investigator could find no common platform between himself and the 15-year-old sitting before him for questioning after his arrest on charges of armed robbery, to gain traction with the youth. The boy, a student at a prestigious private school in Montreal, was suspected of having robbed a convenience story for a distinct purpose; to travel abroad to join ISIL in Syria.

Although he would admit to nothing, the boy, unnamed under Canada's youth justice legislation, spoke of his superior knowledge of Wahhabist-style Islam, where the faithful were of the 'land of Islam and therefore peace' and the non-Muslim world is 'the land of war'. And that it is the obligation of all genuine worshipping Muslims to wage jihad on 'the lands of war' to obey Allah's injunctions and ensure that Islam reigns supreme over all of humankind.

Which made the convenience store a legitimate target in jihad since Canada is 'a land of war' battling Islam. The resources, therefore, held by unbelievers are ripe for seizure as 'spoils of war'. On trial in Quebec Court's youth division on a charge of committing a crime "for the benefit of, at the direction or or in association with a terrorist group" along with another charge of attempting to leave Canada for the purpose of aiding a terrorist group, it was his father who had alerted police.

Christinne Muschi for National Post   Depanneur Esposito seen in Montreal, Quebec, September 8, 2015.

The boy's father had discovered hidden in their backyard, his son's backpack, finding within it a knife, a bag of cash, and a scarf. "He was very nervous because he had confronted his son, and his son wanted to leave the country to fight with a terrorist group", RCMP agent Salvador Calderon testified before the court. But as far as the boy was concerned, his parents had instructed him to disobey god, and that meant his father was an apostate.

"We spoke to your father. He is very worried about you", Montreal police Sgt.-Det. Claudio Del Corpo said to the boy after his arrest at his private high school on October 17. The security video obtained from the convenience store showed someone wearing a jacket and basketball shoes identical to the ones the boy had at school on his arrest. In court, the boy, now 16, sat emotionless, rarely glancing toward the public gallery where his father sat.

Items related to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant were found on the boy's computer, according to Federal Crown prosecutor Lyne Decarie. During the three-week trial to follow, witnesses will include an expert on Salafi jihadism.