Deportation order issued for B.C. man who ‘glorified’ terrorism on Facebook

A deportation order has been issued for a Fort St. John man because he poses a security risk to Canada based on his Facebook posts that glorified terrorism in support of the Islamic State group.

Othman Hamdan, a Jordanian national, was granted refugee protection in Canada in 2004, and applied for permanent resident status but his application was declared abandoned four years later.

He was acquitted of terrorism-related charges by a B-C Supreme Court judge in September 2017, but immigration authorities arrested him and determined at multiple detention reviews that he poses a danger to the public.

The Immigration and Refugee Board says in its written decision that Hamdan made himself out to be a cheerleader for the Islamic State in many of his 85 Facebook posts where he glorified and encouraged lone wolf attacks in Canada, the United States and other western countries.