A brief look at RCMP ricin allegations made against a man from P.E.I.

CHARLOTTETOWN – A look at the allegations made against Amir Raisolsadat, who signed a peace bond Friday, and the argument against them by Raisolsadat and his lawyer, Brandon Forbes:

CASTOR BEANS:

— A search warrant application filed with the provincial court in P.E.I. alleges that the RCMP found an iPhone case containing between 50 and 60 castor beans after they covertly went into Raisolsadat’s home on April 29, 2014. The RCMP says there were enough beans to produce a “substantial quantity” of the deadly toxin ricin.

— Forbes says it is important to remember that Raisolsadat has not been charged with anything and the case amounts to a “misunderstanding.” He says it is not illegal to own the beans and the RCMP has jumped to a conclusion by alleging they would be used to make ricin. “It’s the same error of argument to say that because I have poppies growing in my backyard I must be producing opium. It doesn’t take a law degree to see the problem in that logic,” he said.

PLANS FOR A WARHEAD?

— A document filed with the court by the RCMP says police began collecting Raisolsadat’s household garbage in December 2013. The RCMP allege they found documents early last year after they began collecting Raisolsadat’s household garbage with procedures for making calcium phosphide — described as an explosive compound — and a diagram of a small rocket with a section labelled “warhead.” An officer wrote in the application for the search warrant: “The warhead section appeared to be designed to deliver a chemical or biological agent.”

— Raisolsadat says he would never harm anyone and Forbes says the RCMP has misunderstood the diagram that was found of the small rocket. Forbes says his assistant was able to buy the item at a toy shop. “Its a foot-high piece of cardboard with glue and balsa wood. It’s meant to put a little GI Joe up in the air and it parachutes down,” he said.

FAKE NAME:

— The RCMP allege the item they believed could be used to make a warhead was purchased using a fake name.

— Forbes says the police based that allegation on incorrect information, adding: “We found out after the fact that it wasn’t even him (Raisolsadat.) It was somebody else. And they had gotten it wrong. It’s just another representation of some questions we had about the veracity of the allegations.”