What was the nature of the threat in R v. Abdul-Hussain when hijacking the airplane?

In the case of R v. Abdul-Hussain, the nature of the threat was specifically related to the fear of deportation to Iraq. The defendants in this case were Iraqi asylum seekers who hijacked an aircraft as they believed that returning to Iraq would result in severe persecution and possibly death due to their political beliefs. This situation illustrated their desperation and the extreme actions they were willing to take to escape the imminent threat they faced.

The fear of deportation effectively motivated their hijacking, as they viewed this act as a means of preserving their lives and freedom. The court considered this context when evaluating the defendants’ state of mind and the justifications they provided for their actions. Their sense of threat was not rooted in immediate physical harm from the flight crew, fellow passengers, or government officials, but rather in the overarching fear associated with their potential deportation, which significantly shaped the legality of their actions under circumstances of duress.