Terror suspect Mohammad Hersi appears in court

Mohamed Hersi, who was freed on bail a month ago, appeared in court Thursday and will return at the end of June. While the Crown said it was prepared to set a date for pretrial, the defence requested a delay, citing an issue with how disclosure materials will be handled and a problem with funding.

Defence lawyer Anser Farooq said the financial aspect must be sorted out before he goes on record for Hersi.

The next court date has been scheduled for June 30.

“Prior to that, I am expecting to get the disclosure so we can review that and go forward,” Farooq said.

Hersi, 25, is charged with two terrorism offences, including attempting to participate in a terrorist group and counselling another person to do the same. He was arrested at Toronto’s Pearson airport while waiting to board a flight to Cairo, which police allege would have been his first stop en route to Somalia to join al-Shabab.

The al-Qaida-linked group is on Canada’s list of banned terrorist organizations.

Details of the Crown’s case are covered by a sweeping publication ban.

Outside court, Hersi said he was happy to be out of jail, and thanked Justice of the Peace Hilda Weiss for granting bail last month.

“I’m not going to disappoint her,” he said, but declined to comment on the charges or on how his life has progressed since his April release.