Crown seeks 20 years in Surrey bus terror case; defence seeks seven

Federal prosecutors are seeking a 20-year sentence for Abdul Aziz Kawam, convicted of attempted murder and terrorism-related offences after a 2023 stabbing aboard a Surrey bus. Defence counsel is asking for seven years.

The April 2023 attack left a stranger with a life-threatening throat wound. The court previously heard Kawam approached another man before boarding the bus, asked whether he was Muslim and tried to attack him after the man said no. Prosecutors say Kawam then targeted a stranger on a Coast Mountain bus.

In a victim impact statement read in court, the victim said he remains anxious more than three years later. He missed a month of work because he was afraid to take transit and took weeks to regain the confidence to ride a bus.

The Crown argues the attack was principally motivated by support for ISIS, citing a 9-1-1 call after the stabbing. The defence points to Kawam's history of psychosis and schizophrenia, lack of a criminal record and childhood in war-torn Lebanon. Kawam is not a Canadian citizen and faces deportation after serving his sentence. A decision is not expected before October.