[JURIST] A lawyer representing one of 17 Canadians arrested on terror charges [JURIST report] in June argued Monday in an Ontario court that Canada's anti-terror legislation [Canada DOJ backgrounder] discriminates because it focuses only on "brown" Muslim and Arab groups and excludes "white" groups such as the Ku Klux Klan [Wikipedia backgrounder]. Rocco Galati [Wikipedia profile] asked that the bail hearing for his client, Ahmad Ghany [Wikipedia backgrounder] be held in front of a Superior Court Justice instead of a justice of the peace because the justice of the peace cannot address issues arising under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [text] issues. No decision was immediately made on Galati's request, however, because the court is also considering an application from media organizations to lift a media ban [JURIST report] on part of the proceedings.

In June, Galati asserted that the Canadian terror suspects do not stand a chance at a fair trial [JURIST report] because both Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper [statement; official website] and Toronto Mayor David Miller [official profile], as well as several Muslim leaders, had publicly declared that the suspects are guilty. The Toronto Sun has more.