Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Teen footballers charged over gang rape

By Greg Roberts,
AAP
October 27, 2009, 7:53 pm

Three teenagers have been charged over the alleged gang rape of two women during an end of season football trip.

The youths were among a group of 16 young men arrested on Tuesday morning over the alleged rapes at Phillip Island, about 140km south of Melbourne, earlier this month.

A 17-year-old and two 18-year-olds are charged with false imprisonment, rape and indecent assault.

The 17-year-old from Montmorency, and the other youths from Bundoora and Lower Plenty were to face an out-of-sessions court hearing on Tuesday night.

Police raided four properties in Melbourne's northeast at 6am (AEDT) on Tuesday and arrested the young men aged between 17 and 20.

They include players from Montmorency Football Club in Melbourne's northern suburbs who were on an end of season trip to Phillip Island.

Two local women complained to police that they were raped by a group of men on Saturday, October 10 at Cowes on Phillip Island.

One of Montmorency's coaches said the trip was not officially connected to the club.

"It was not an official trip, the only official football trip involved seniors and reserves players that went to Glenelg," he told AAP.

"There was no under-19s footy trip, I think a few of the boys went away with friends.

"We had a lady from the AFL come here halfway through the football season who gave a talk how to respect women.

"We don't want any trouble, we just want to play the game, be successful, give some of these young blokes a game and get them off the streets."

AFL Victoria chief executive officer Peter Schwab said he was "shocked at the allegations".

He also confirmed the club had participated in the AFL's Respect and Responsibility program aimed at creating respect and safe environments for women.

"It's an extremely distressing time for the two girls concerned and our thoughts are with them," he told AAP.

"Certainly we would hope anyone involved would come forward and co-operate fully with the police.

"We trust the police will get to the bottom of it."

The AFL has been liaising with the Northern Football League, in which Montmorency plays.

Mr Schwab said the NFL has the power to de-register players and officials from its affiliated clubs.

The NFL's general manager Kevin Crompton released a statement saying the league and club were bitterly disappointed with the allegations.

"The NFL takes the allegations very seriously and encourages anyone with information to come forward," he said.

The search warrants were carried out at two properties in Montmorency and one each in Bundoora and Briar Hill while CCTV footage was seized from Cowes nightspots.

Detective Inspector Glenn Davies from the Sexual Crimes Squad said violence against women would not be tolerated and all such offences would be thoroughly investigated.

"I encourage all women who are victims of sexual assault to report these offences to police," he said in a statement.

Source

Friday, August 7, 2009

Muslims must tackle theology of hate

Abdullah Saeed August 07, 2009

Article from: The Australian

EVENTS of the past decade have shown that small groups of militant extremist Muslims have a remarkable ability to create havoc in much of the world: killing, suicide bombing and destruction in the name of Islam.

That the number of these militant extremists is small is not a good reason for the majority of Muslims to remain silent.

The ideology of these small groups has become widespread at a global level and unless the silent majority in Muslim societies wakes up to the threat these militant extremists pose to their societies, their religion and to the world, there is a danger that militant extremism could become the norm in some Muslim societies.

Countering the ideology of militant extremists from 9/11 to the recent Jakarta bombings, Muslim religious leaders, theologians, academics, journalists and others have labelled such actions as anti-Islamic.

Australia, home to about 400,000 Muslims, has become a target of militant extremists, as a series of arrests this week has demonstrated. The law-abiding silent majority of Muslim Australians faces a particularly important task, now more than ever: to counter the threat of militant extremism and the hate-filled ideology of the extremists, and to save the younger generation of Muslims from this ideology.

This does not mean that Muslim Australians are somehow responsible for the acts of militant extremists; clearly they are not, and law-abiding Muslims should not be held responsible for the criminal acts of those who call themselves Muslim.

There are several things mainstream Muslim Australians can do. Condemning the violence in the strongest terms is naturally the starting point, but it should not be the end of the story.

Mainstream Muslims have to actively counter the claims of these militant extremists, just as Muslims in the past have done so at different points throughout the history of Islam, and in doing so helped to keep the militant extremists at the margins of society.

Mainstream Muslim Australians need to recognise that Koranic verses and the sayings of the prophet Mohammed can be misused and twisted to justify the most terrible acts. Unfortunately, all religious texts are not mathematical in their precision and are open to all forms of interpretation. Therefore, to counter the militants' arguments, it is important to show that the views and interpretations of the militants ought to be rejected because they are un-Islamic and go against mainstream Muslim thinking and practice.

The silent majority should strengthen its campaign of undermining the militancy and hatred advocated by the extremists. This campaign should begin at Friday sermons, in mosques, at homes, through lesson at Muslim weekend and day schools, in study circles and youth camps. This is no doubt happening but more needs to be done in view of the present situation.

There needs to be a strong and clear message that killing innocent people, be they Muslims or non-Muslims, is a grave sin and is prohibited in the strongest terms in the Koran and in keeping with Mohammed's deeds.

More broadly, there needs to be an emphasis that Islam teaches compassion and love rather than hate. Unless the theology of hate is challenged, it is likely to become the standard interpretation of their faith for many disaffected young Muslims.

It is important that mainstream Muslims stop -- where that happens -- berating the West for its supposed moral failings and preaching that Muslims cannot be fully Muslim in Australia if they are actively involved in Australian society as full citizens.

Australia is not a perfect society, but neither is any other society. It is not mutually exclusive to be a good practising Muslim and an Australian. That certain vices contrary to Islamic teaching -- such as gambling, pornography or brothels -- exist in Australian society is no reason to label Australia un-Islamic. These vices also exist in all Muslim societies. No one forces any Muslim to indulge in any of these vices.

The freedoms that exist here are a part of Australian society's fundamental values and should be seen as a plus from a Muslim point of view. Such freedoms can be used to bolster one's faith.

Many Muslims find that these freedoms allow them to live in Australia as practising Muslims in a way that is not possible in many Muslim-majority countries, where religious freedom is often curtailed, even for Muslims. In essence, Australian values and Islamic teachings on the question of freedom are not so vastly different. Both are based on ideas such as human dignity, justice, equity and egalitarianism.

The basis of some hate-filled literature is that non-Muslims are kuffar (unbelievers) and therefore do not deserve to be treated with respect. Such views are rightly rejected by mainstream Muslims. But rejection is not enough. They need to promote the Koranic teaching that all human beings, whatever their faith, deserve to be honoured as the children of Adam. It needs to be stressed that non-Muslims and Muslims are brothers and sisters within the human family. The Koran tells us that God never wanted to convert all human beings to one religion. Had he so desired, he could have done so. All human beings are free to accept or reject a religion, as the Koran consistently teaches.

The Koran also teaches that debates with non-Muslims about faith should be conducted with the utmost courtesy and dignity.

Respect, courtesy and compassion are repeatedly emphasised in the Koran and these injunctions are in line with the idea that Islam is a universal faith that attempts to contribute to human dignity.

It is important to deal with militant extremism at the ideological-theological level as a matter of urgency. Mere condemnation is insufficient. Sitting on the fence will not help either.

Muslim Australians and their religious leaders can play a crucial role in dealing with the theology of hatred and violence.

Security agencies can protect us from the violence of the militant extremists but, unless the ideological-theological component is effectively tackled, they will continue to pose a threat for a very long time to come.

The last thing Muslim Australians need is a continuous flow of news about possible terrorist threats emerging from within the Australian Muslim community.

Abdullah Saeed is the director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne.

Source

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Man faces court over explosives find

August 6, 2009 - 6:07PM

A man charged with making explosives was on anti-depressant medication, a Melbourne court has been told.

Russell Heard, 46, of Wyndham Vale in Melbourne's west, faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court today charged with explosives offences.

Police allegedly discovered the explosive materials during a raid while carrying out a search warrant about 6pm yesterday.

The court was told Heard is on anti-depressant medication and should be assessed by a doctor.

Magistrate Lance Martin suppressed publication of Heard's image after the court heard identity may be an issue in the case.

Heard is charged with making an explosive substance with intent to damage property and possessing an explosive substance with intent to cause serious injury to property.

He made no application for bail and was remanded in custody to reappear on October 29 for committal mention.

In a media statement this morning, police said they believed they had uncovered a clandestine laboratory for the use and manufacture of explosive substances and had seized chemicals and apparatus from the home.

They were searching the property as part of an investigation into a burglary.

AAP

Source

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Police swoop in counter-terrrorism raids

Thomas Hunter

August 4, 2009 - 7:02AM

Homes across Melbourne's north have been raided in a joint counter-terrorism operation reportedly targeting Islamic suicide bombers this morning.

Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police executed 19 search warrants at homes in Glenroy, Carlton, Meadow Heights, Roxburgh Park, Broadmeadows, Westmeadows, Preston, Epping and Colac about 4.30am.

More than 400 officers from the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Victoria Police, NSW Police, the NSW Crime Commission and Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) were involved in the operation.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said there had been a number of arrests, but she would not say how many.

Police have set up a crime scene at the corner of View and Glen streets, Glenroy, in Melbourne's north.

The Australian this morning reported that national security agencies had uncovered a plot by Islamic extremists to launch a suicide attack on an Australian army base, which was understood to be Holsworthy Barracks on Sydney's western outskirts.

It said the raids involved a suspected terrorist cell of Australian nationals of Somali and Lebanese backgrounds.

The report said members of the group had been observed carrying out surveillance at the army base and other suspicious activity around defence bases in Victoria.

It also said the cell had been inspired by the Somalia-based terrorist movement al-Shabaab, which had connections with al-Qaeda.

The investigation dubbed Operation Health, involving 150 members of the AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO, was launched in January, the report said.

An AFP spokeswoman this morning confirmed its officers had joined the raids.

"The AFP and Victoria Police can confirm the execution of a number of search warrants this morning as part of a joint counter-terrorism operation,'' she said.

The spokeswoman said more information would be available later this morning.

She was unable to confirm the News Ltd report.

- with AAP

Source

Friday, July 31, 2009

Bomb detonators found in northern beaches unit: police

Arjun Ramachandran

July 31, 2009 - 6:39AM

The bomb squad has found a number of bomb detonators at a unit on Sydney’s northern beaches overnight, police say.

Residents were evacuated from a unit block, on Fisher Road at Dee Why, after the discovery in one of its units about 7pm.

They were allowed to return to their homes about 10pm after police deemed it safe.

Police found the detonators during a search of the raided unit, which also uncovered cash, a replica firearm, tablets, cannabis and a crystal matter believed to be illicit drugs, police said.

The unit’s 31-year-old male occupant was charged with drug possession, drug supply, firearm offences, handling an explosive precursor without a license and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

He was refused bail and will face Manly Local Court today.

Source

Monday, July 27, 2009

Possible bomb-making materials found in Newcastle flat

Posted Fri Jul 24, 2009 12:02am AEST

A block of flats in Newcastle has been evacuated after police discovered possible bomb-making materials in one of the units.

Police say they went to the flat at New Lambton Heights this afternoon as part of a routine inquiry.

When they found the powders and chemicals they called in a hazmat team, police rescue and the bomb disposal unit and sealed off several roads around the unit block.

A 23-year-old man was found hiding in the roof of the unit block and is now being questioned by police.

Source

Saturday, June 20, 2009

A class of their own

Sally Neighbour June 19, 2009

Article from: The Australian

FIVE-year-old Abdul is a small and sensitive boy. From when he was a toddler his parents worried about how he would fare in a classroom full of rowdy kindergarteners, let alone a school playground. Devout Muslims, they also wanted their son's schooling to reflect their religious beliefs. So Abdul's mother decided to teach him herself.

Abdul sits at the dining table in their three-bedroom house in Sydney's Bass Hill, surrounded by piles of books from the library, sounding out words from Dr Seuss's The Cat in the Hat. Next he goes exploring in the garden and finds a stick insect, then logs on to the computer to Google stick insects and their habits. Later he'll attend a neighbourhood karate class or his weekly swimming lesson. His mother Amar now can't imagine sending him to school.

"He can be quite shy, he's a bit like me, he's going to do things in his own time," she says. "If your child doesn't fit into the mould, if your child is a little bit different they can't cater for them (at school). It's a set curriculum, the teachers have to get through A, B, C and D, (whereas) I can see what his strengths and weaknesses are and concentrate on that."

Amid the controversy over Islamic schools in Australia and fierce debate over religious v secular schooling, increasing numbers of Muslim families are choosing a third and no less controversial alternative: home schooling.

"It is very much growing in the Muslim community, it's been one of the busiest years I can remember," says Mujahidah Flint, who founded the Muslim Home Education Network 10 years ago. She says she knows at least 100 families in NSW who have opted to educate their children at home, and this year she's had inquiries from another 40, about half of whom have gone ahead. She recently launched an online forum where home-schooling families swap information and advice.

"Every family's different, they all home school for different reasons," Flint says. "Islamic reasons, academic reasons, maybe they're going overseas and want their children to have more Arabic.

"Many are just dissatisfied with the school system in general, or maybe their child has a disability and the school is not able to cater for the needs of their child."

A New Zealand-born Muslim convert, Flint is a former marketing executive and has a BA in English. She drives a black Audi convertible sports car, which matches her black hijab. "I'm a businesswoman: they used to say I could sell sand to the Arabs," she says.

Twelve years ago Flint decided to shelve her career to become the teacher of her two daughters, Aleah and Tahirrah, then aged six and four. She was unimpressed by the Australian education system and wanted her children to learn the phonics method of reading rather than the whole-word approach used in most Australian schools. She also wanted their faith to be foremost.

"I wanted my children to have a very strong Islamic identity and a more well-rounded, worldly education. My intention was to give them an individualised education, as opposed to an institutionalised one."

Flint tapped into an established network of Christians who were home-schooling their children, and liked what she saw.

"I found they were very well-educated, well-mannered, had very close family ties, a very strong sense of identity and strong religious beliefs, and I wanted that for my children."

She obtained books and resources from the US, where more than 1 million children are taught at home, and embarked on her new career as a teacher.

"Initially you try to replicate the school environment at home," she says. "I got the whiteboard, desks, rulers, books. I used to do it from nine to three and take the phone off the hook.

"That lasted about six months, until I found that life got in the way and I realised that life is part of education too, and that I didn't want to replicate the school environment. Home schooling is definitely not school at home."

Aleah and Tahirrah, now aged 18 and 16, completed their schooling at 14. Today, they are articulate, outgoing and impeccably mannered young women. Both are now studying childcare in order to get a qualification.

Tahirrah has an online photography business and hopes to become a photo-journalist, while Aleah is content to do voluntary community work before marrying and having children. The two girls are enthusiastic advocates of home schooling.

"I loved it. It was fun, it wasn't boring," says Aleah. "The way that schools educate is not the only way that people can learn. Our whole life was really learning all the time."

She remembers doing lessons in the park, and on hot summer days finishing their schoolwork in the morning and being allowed to spend the rest of the day in the pool. The advantages were "getting to be with my mum, getting to know my mum, being a closer family; we have a much closer family bond. Education-wise, pursuing your own interests, being able to travel, it's so much more free. You have a life with home-schooling".

The home-schooling movement began in the 1960s and 70s as an anti-establishment phenomenon. Esther Lacoba, president of the Home Education Association of Australia, says: "The attitude (then) was 'why should my child be institutionalised in a school? I don't want my child to just be a number. Children deserve better than that'."

It had a new spurt in the 80s inspired by the burgeoning Christian home education movement in the US. Seventy-five per cent of US home-schoolers are Christians, but the Muslim sector is estimated to be doubling every year. Lacoba says the trend is mirrored here, although the numbers are much smaller.

"People of various faiths believe the secular school system is not good for their children," she says. "Quite a few Muslims are members of the HEA; it's definitely growing, Muslim and non-Muslim."

The precise numbers of Australian children being taught at home are unclear. In 2007, the HEA held a series of conferences across the country, attended by more than 1200 home-schooling families.

The NSW Board of Studies says just over 2000 students are registered for home-schooling in NSW. Lacoba believes the real figure is double that as many families don't register, although they are required by law to do so. Flint believes the number nationwide may be as high as 20,000.

The regulations differ from state to state. Typically home-schoolers must adhere to the key subject areas in the state curriculum, follow a teaching plan, keep detailed records, and monitor the achievements and progress of students. Beyond that, it's up to them.

"Home-schooled kids do loads more than what they're taught at school," says Flint. "They basically finish the entire school curriculum by the age of 13 or 14. You're not restricted by the curriculum, you can let them excel."

Professional educators, however, take a much dimmer view. The Australian Education Union opposes home schooling, which it describes as "inconsistent with the philosophy and importance of schooling itself".

"Schooling is a very important socialising agent, the socialising is just as important as the learning," says AEU president, Angelo Gavrielatos. "It's about students learning together and, just as importantly, learning to live together."

He says the trend in the Muslim community is "a cause for further concern, given the types of enclaves that can generate".

"Schooling aims to break down segregation. Education should ameliorate rather than exacerbate social divisions," Gavrielatos says.

"If we're on about the development of a genuinely socially cohesive society, any move that acts against that should at least be questioned. When we start to enter the realm of educating along ethno-religious lines, that should ring some serious alarm bells for us as a society."

Home schoolers are accustomed to the persistent questions. How can you teach if you're not a qualified teacher? How can you help your kids master subjects that you struggle with yourself? What about their socialisation? How can you stand to be around your children 24 hours a day?
Flint has answers ready. "Home schooling is really about giving parents choices. This is a legal option; it is very much about a parent's right to choose what education method the parent wants for their child.

"You don't necessarily have to have a teaching diploma in order to teach your children. You rely on friends. If you're not great at one thing you find someone else who is. You trade: 'OK, you teach my kids maths and I'll teach your kids English'."

She says there's no evidence that home-schooled kids are disadvantaged. "We find that people who do home schooling and then put their children back into school, their children are often scholastically ahead of other children."

Lacoba agrees. "My experience is that kids who are home educated have a different work ethic, because when you're in a group of 25 kids at school, you're going through the motions.

"Home-schooled kids are choosing what they're learning so they're engaged with it. By the time they hit adulthood they really know how to find what interests them and seek it out."

Their confidence is supported by overseas research. A senior research analyst with the US Department of Education, Patricia M. Lines, writes in an article posted on pro-home schooling websites: "Research has not found that home schooling harms children's social or psychological development. On the contrary, these children often demonstrate better social adjustment than their traditionally schooled peers."

A 2002 study by the University of Durham in northern England found that home-educated children had "high levels of attainment and good social skills", "benefited from parental attention and the freedom to develop their skills at their own pace", and that their "families enjoyed strong bonds and parents were committed to providing a nurturing environment for their children".

Abdul's mother, Amar, says for her it's about putting her family first. "I don't know how people who send their children to school have time to have a life. With all the extra-curricular activity, if I had my son in school there would be no time left for family time, and that's really important to us."

Speaking from experience, 18-year-old Aleah shakes her head emphatically when asked whether she sees any disadvantages. "No way. I loved home-schooling. I will do the same thing with my kids and I hope they'll do the same thing with their kids."

Source

$415m bomb-proof Australian embassy for Jakarta

Mark Dodd June 18, 2009

Article from: The Australian

WORK on a $415 million high-security Australian embassy in Jakarta will begin late next year, six years after a Jemaah Islamiah terrorist bombing that killed five people and injured more than 150 others.

The new chancery will be “bomb-proofed” and house 14 federal government agencies, 123 Australian and 273 local staff, Defence Secretary Mike Kelly said today.

Mr Kelly today submitted budget plans for the new embassy with a start date for construction next year and completion scheduled for 2014.

The current mission is “overcrowded and dysfunctional”, Mr Kelly told Parliament.

In 2004, a suicide bomber detonated a minivan loaded with more than one tonne of explosives outside the embassy.

"The government approved the relocation of the Jakarta mission on security grounds. The new site will enable appropriate setbacks to buildings for blast mitigation while the buildings themselves will be designed to resist blast,” Mr Kelly said.

"While the new development is driven by the imperative to provide more secure accommodation, a rapid increase of staff in the Jakarta mission over recent years has resulted in the chancery being seriously overcrowded and dysfunctional.”

Construction is expected to start late next year, subject to parliamentary approval.

The project will involve construction of a secure compound, including a chancery of about 20,000 square metres, a head of mission residence, residential accommodation for 32 diplomats and their families, recreational facilities and a medical clinic.

Source

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Killers lose right to sue prison

June 18, 2009 12:00am

CONVICTED killer Bassam Hamzy's quest to sue prisons boss Ron Woodham has come to an end with the State Government today announcing it will legislate to cruel his lawsuit.

He and fellow murderer Emad Sleiman have argued their segregation in jail was a deprivation of liberty.

The retrospective legislation is to be introduced next week and is aimed to shoring up Mr Woodham's right to manage prisoners in the way that he sees fit.

Hamzy and Sleiman won the right to sue Mr Woodham in April after the Supreme Court ruled they had a strong enough case for it to be heard.

Premier Nathan Rees criticised that decision in parliament today and acknowledged that "under the law they may succeed''.

"We will legislate to confirm the reasonable practises of the Department of Corrective Services and close the loophole,'' he said.

"We will legislate to uphold the right of Corrective Services to manage prisoners and keep absurd lawsuits like the Hamzy Sleiman case out of the courts.''

"We won't have legitimate prison management being second guessed by criminals in the Supreme Court.

"And we won't be handing out taxpayers' dollars in return for this sort of complaint.''

Hamzy has also been accused of trying to run a drug business from behind bars by using a smuggled phone.

He allegedly used dental floss to transfer a mobile phone between cells where he is accused of making more than 19,000 phone calls from to co-ordinate a $250,000-a-week drug operation.

"My reaction to their grab for cash is one of revulsion and utter disbelief,'' Mr Rees said.

"As far as I am concerned, not one cent of taxpayer money will wind up in the hands of these vicious disruptive thugs.

Taxpayers have already paid $2million to keep Hamzy and Sleiman in maximum security cells.

The pair claimed they were being held in a "prison within a prison'' at Lithgow jail after their plot to escape from Goulburn by converting other inmates to Islam was foiled last year.

Source

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Defence courts ethnic groups

Jonathan Pearlman

Defence CorrespondentJune 13, 2009

SOLDIERS could have greater access to halal meals, regular prayer times and more flexible rules for wearing turbans and culturally specific clothing under a plan to boost the recruitment of troops from ethnic groups.

The Defence Force plan will seek to reverse the disproportionately low rates of enlistment among Australians from ethnic backgrounds, particularly among Muslim and Asian communities.

About 1 per cent of troops were born in Asia and 87 per cent were born in Australia, compared with the general workforce where 7 per cent were born in Asia and 73 per cent born in Australia.

The lack of ethnic diversity has drawn heavy criticism from defence analysts, who say the military is unrepresentative and may be missing out on access to cultural and linguistic skills.

"There is something unsettling about a defence force that is unrepresentative of the society it exists to protect," said a report last month by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

"By relying on a limited part of the population, the defence force misses the opportunity to recruit some of the best and brightest in the community."

The director-general of defence force recruiting, Commodore Tim Barrett, told the Herald that Defence was likely to begin by focusing on efforts to improve recruitment of Indians and Arabs.

The program's research has indicated these groups may be particularly receptive to enlistment strategies.

"If you're a Sikh and interested in enlisting, it may just come down to a simple issue of headwear," Mr Barrett said.

"It may be that your religious affiliation requires you to pray at certain times. We need to look at whether people have the opportunity and facility to observe those requirements."

Source

Friday, June 12, 2009

Damir Dokic jailed for threatening Australian ambassador to Serbia

June 12, 2009

Article from: Australian Associated Press

THE estranged father of tennis comeback queen Jelena Dokic has been jailed for 15 months in Serbia after threatening to blow up Australia's ambassador to Belgrade.

Damir Dokic was found guilty of making telephone threats to kill Clare Birgin with a grenade launcher and for having a cache of illegal weapons at the end of his trial in the northern Serbian town of Ruma on Thursday.

The 15-month sentence was far less than the maximum penalty of five to eight years Dokic could have been handed.

The 50-year-old war veteran was sentenced to spend 10 months behind bars after being found guilty of threatening to take another person's life.

He was ordered to spend another seven months in jail for illegally possessing firearms found at his home in Vrdnik.

Dokic was given a two-month reduction in his total sentence because of the time he had spent in custody since his arrest in early May.

Dokic made the threats to Birgin in a phone call to the Australian embassy in Belgrade while enraged over an interview Jelena gave to an Australian magazine indicating he had physically assaulted her when she was growing up.

His trial was held behind closed doors amid reports that his daughter had flown to Serbia to support her father because she was worried about his health.

Doctors had to treat the 50-year-old for hypertension as he waited to be sentenced.

Serbian daily newspaper Novosti reported Jelena had arrived in Belgrade to visit her father, but her brother Savo Dokic refused to deny or confirm the report.

"Please understand me, I would not like to talk in public about such things," he told the newspaper.

Jelena had refused to discuss her father's legal problems with reporters when she continued her tennis comeback at the French Open in late May.

The player, a former world No.4, was forced to quit the grand slam because of a lower back injury during her second-round match.

She is due to make her first on-court appearance since leaving Roland Garros in a qualifying round at a WTA grasscourt tournament at Eastbourne on Saturday.

The Argus newspaper in Britain reported Dokic had been practising at Devonshire Park during the week after doctors declared her fit to play in the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event.

Source

Friday, May 22, 2009

Aussie air steward jailed for bomb hoax

May 22, 2009, 7:09 am

An Australian flight attendant has been jailed for 18 months in England for leaving a bomb hoax note on a London-bound plane he was working on.

Matthew Carney, 23, of Melbourne , was arrested in March after the Emirates Boeing 777 flight he was on landed at Gatwick airport amid a major security scare about whether there was a bomb on board.

While no explosive devices were found, two notes referring to a bomb on the jumbo were discovered - one in a passenger toilet and another in Carney's luggage.

Carney pleaded guilty to making a hoax threat at Lewes Crown Court in southern England on Thursday. He denied a second charge of endangering the safety of an aircraft.

Handing down Carney's sentence, judge Richard Brown said the Australian had breached the trust of the plane's 164 passengers, its owner and his co-workers.

Carney's lawyer Andel Singh said he had been under great stress and was extremely tired while he was working on board the flight from Dubai.

"He apologises wholeheartedly and sincerely to all those individuals who were even the slightest bit inconvenienced," Singh said.

Fears about a bomb being on board the plane arose when Carney found wires hanging in an economy toilet cubicle during the flight to Gatwick.

He alerted senior staff who found the wires were not connected to any electrical devices and removed them before instructing cabin crew to monitor the cubicle for any suspicious activity.

A passenger later found a note warning that "explosive material can be found in the fwd (forward) cargo department" stuck inside another toilet cubicle that Carney had restocked with toilet paper.

The note added: "We have the Taliban to thank for this. It will activate."

The passenger alerted Carney and his supervisor, who passed the note to the captain so he could warn ground staff at Gatwick.

By the time the plane landed early on a Sunday morning, police, ambulance and fire crews were on alert and guided the aircraft to an isolated secure area.

The airport was closed for 15 minutes and all passengers and crew had their bags searched.

Investigators found another note in a pocket of a pair of shorts inside Carney's suitcase which read: "Cargo contains explosives."

Source

Monday, May 11, 2009

Despite the fanfare, most bikies charged for minor offences

Geesche Jacobsen Crime Editor

May 11, 2009

MANY of the people charged by police under an operation hailed for being tough on bikies have been charged with traffic, street and other minor offences, figures show.

Many might have been arrested as part of normal police operations, not those targeting members of an outlaw motorcycle gang.

Overall, 975 people were charged with 2171 offences under Operation Ranmore, which started two years ago this month and predated the killing of Anthony Zervas at Sydney Airport and the new Strike Force Raptor.

However, figures obtained under freedom-of-information laws show that in that time only nine people were charged specifically with being a member of a criminal gang.

Nearly 300 people were charged with traffic offences, more than 140 with "judicial" offences, such as breaching bail, and 110 with property and street offences.

The Opposition police spokesman, Mike Gallacher, said the figures of Operation Ranmore had been "inflated by the inclusion of low-level offences".

"It is quite possible that a number of those charges … were the result of normal operations of general duties and highway patrol police stopping an offender who they found out to be a bikie, with that person being arrested then being included in Ranmore [statistics] even though the person may not necessarily have been targeted prior to committing the offence."

The figures show the state's Gang Squad charged only 40 of the people arrested under the operation, and most charges were laid by local police around the state.

More than 200 people were charged with assault or violence, but it is unknown how serious many of those alleged offences were.

Only 139 charges relate to drugs, firearms or weapons offences, which have been singled out as the main bikie criminal activities.

The Government has repeatedly praised Ranmore as successfully "tackling these thugs head on".

The commander of the Gang Squad, Superintendent Mal Lanyon, said police were targeting illegal activities by members of outlaw motorcycle gangs and their associates "right across the spectrum of offences", which included serious traffic offences. "If you target people that are carrying out illegal activities you are certainly making the state a safer place," he said.

He said local police were also conducting some intelligence-based operations which specifically targeted bikies, while highway patrol officers targeted serious traffic offenders.

Source

Bomb threat just Dokic's idea of a joke

Selma Milovanovic

May 11, 2009

THREATS to blow up the Australian ambassador were a joke and bombs found in his home were souvenirs from the war in Croatia, a handcuffed Damir Dokic told a Serbian magistrate.

Dokic, 50, faced court just days after reacting wildly to claims by his daughter Jelena that he had physically abused the tennis player. He is being held in a Serbian jail for up to 30 days after police raided his home and said they found weapons, including two bombs.

Earlier he allegedly told Serbian media he would fire a rocket at the Australian ambassador, Clare Birgin, if she did nothing to stop Australian media reports of his alleged violence towards Jelena.

Dokic has been charged with illegal weapons possession and endangering another person's safety. His lawyer was due to seek bail for Dokic yesterday.

Dokic told Serbian media the alleged threats were not serious. "I only wanted to ask the embassy to investigate who had spread the misinformation. I told reporters that I would fire a wasp [rocket] at her when I was upset and as a joke." Dokic, a Serbian war veteran, said the bombs were a souvenir he had "totally forgotten about".

He had bought 20 bullets at a fair in the town of Ruma as souvenirs. They did not fit hunting rifles he legally owned, also seized in the raid.

Dokic's lawyer, Bosiljka Djukic, said the threats were a "media beat-up" and that she would ask for her client to be transferred to hospital if his blood pressure and sugar levels continued to rise.
Dokic "may have said something to an embassy employee while upset but those were by no means serious threats".

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said Dokic, an Australian citizen, would be offered consular assistance. The offer came days after Dokic said he would sue the Australian Government for $2 million for pain and suffering caused by the expulsion of his family from Australia.

The magistrate, Branislav Rakicevic, told reporters Dokic had been remanded because of the "likelihood he would reoffend".

A pub owner in the village of Vrdnik told a newspaper of Dokic's frequent visits to the pub. He was "liberal with drinks, and tips to the musicians". He often asked a mandolin orchestra to play his favourite folk song, Oh, Jelo, Jelena, but with the bang of a fist, always halted them after the first refrain. Djordje Knezevic, a local, said: "All of us have our faults, but Dokic is an extremely nice and educated man who has done a lot for Vrdnik."

Source

Military covered up shooting of Afghan family

Nick McKenzie

May 11, 2009

AUSTRALIAN military personnel were involved in a cover-up of an investigation into the alleged involvement of special forces soldiers in the killing and maiming of Afghan civilians.

Information held by the Defence Department contradicts claims by the Defence Force chief, Angus Houston, that SAS troopers had nothing to do with an incident that left an Afghan man dead, a woman blinded and her daughter badly injured.

Air Chief Marshal Houston told a parliamentary hearing in early 2007 that a "quick assessment" investigation had found "absolutely no substance to the allegations" that Australian special forces were involved in the incident near Tarin Kowt in southern Afghanistan in July 2006.

But information gathered by Defence officials in Afghanistan has been uncovered that implicates Australians in the shooting. It is believed that some of this information was uncovered during the "quick assessment" ordered by the ADF.

A well-placed Defence source said there was pressure on Defence officials in Afghanistan to cover up the incident. Information detailing possible Australian involvement in the incident is believed to have been stored on ADF computers in Afghanistan. It is almost certain this information did not make its way to Air Chief Marshal Houston before he was questioned by the Senate Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.

An Afghan parliamentarian, Haji Abdul Khaliq, whose relatives were the victims of the attack, said he was convinced Australians were responsible.

Mr Khaliq said the attack on his relative's car had killed his brother-in-law Abdul Baqi, blinded his wife and badly injured his daughter, who later had her leg amputated. His son and a niece and nephew were also injured.

"Australian forces attacked my family ... they started shooting them," said Mr Khaliq.

"We asked the governor and police chief who made the investigation. They said that they were Australians [who had fired at the car]. They did not give any sign to stop. My car's windows were not dark. Inside the car was visible."

Mr Khaliq said none of the Australians helped the injured. "They didn't even give them a bottle of water and they didn't even take them to hospital."

The former governor of the area in which the attack took place, Abdul Hakim Monib, said a senior Australian officer told him Australians were responsible. "They expressed their sorrow for the incident and they said 'We thought they were the enemy' ... They said it was a mistake and we are upset about it."

In a written statement a Defence official said the claims of Mr Khaliq did "not correspond to Coalition patrol reporting."

But the Greens leader, Bob Brown, has called on Air Chief Marshal Houston to launch an inquiry. "It is very deeply concerning that, on the face of it, there may have been a cover-up of an incident involving death and injury to civilians in Afghanistan," Senator Brown said.

Mr Houston's 2007 comments and the investigation summary likely to have been sent to Canberra are contradicted by information uncovered during the investigation in Afghanistan.

The information reveals:

* An SAS patrol was in the vicinity when the shooting occurred;

* The patrol reported a "contact" - meaning they fired their weapons; and

* The area in which the SAS patrol reported the enemy to be located was the same area in which the family was travelling.

At the time of the shooting, the SAS patrol believed taxis were ferrying Taliban insurgents in the area. A Defence source said it was possible troopers shot at the vehicle believing it was carrying Taliban militants.

Other information available to Defence officials also pointed to the involvement of Australians, as do interviews conducted recently in Kabul.

The revelations raise questions about whether Air Chief Marshal Houston unwittingly misled the Senate committee, as well as doubts about the adequacy of inquiries in combat zones.

When Air Chief Marshal Houston was questioned about the incident by the Greens senator Kerry Nettle at the hearing in February 2007, he said: "We investigated it [the alleged involvement of Australians] and we found no evidence of Australian troops involved in what was described as happening."

The Defence Department is yet to release the findings of two other inquiries into claims Australians were responsible for the deaths of civilians this year.

In January, an Australian operation aimed at finding those responsible for the death of the special forces soldier Greg Sher allegedly left four Afghan civilians dead. Five children were killed in an incident involving Australian troops in February.

The Age

Source

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Policemen charged with Vic sex offences

Two South Australian police officers have been charged with sex crimes while they were in Victoria assisting with the Black Saturday bushfires.

The officers, aged 29 and 39, will face a Victorian court later this month.

They were off duty at the time of the alleged offences, police said on Thursday.

"It is believed the alleged incidences took place when the members were in Victoria assisting during the bushfire period," a Victoria Police spokesman said.

The 29-year-old, from Banksia Park in Adelaide's northeast, has been charged with rape. The 39-year-old, from south suburban Daw Park, has been charged with one count of indecent assault.

Both men faced the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday, where they were bailed to reappear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 13.

A South Australian Police spokesman said both officers had been suspended from duty, but could not say what rank they held.

The charges follow an Ethical Standards Department (ESD) investigation.

Source

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Aussie soldiers kill 80 Taliban fighters

April 26, 2009, 6:58 am

Australian soldiers in Afghanistan have killed about 80 Taliban fighters in a major operation.

Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, who secretly visited troops "outside the wire" in Oruzgan Province before attending an Anzac Day dawn service at Tarin Kowt, said on Saturday the firefights occurred as part of two combat missions by Special Forces and other allied troops over a three-week period.

He said other soldiers involved in mentoring the Afghan National Army had cleared an area where Taliban insurgents killed Australian Corporal Mathew Hopkins last month, Fairfax newspapers reported.

"I think too often they hear the bad news, particularly when we suffer fatal casualties. I think these briefings are important to demonstrate that we are making real progress," Mr Fitzgibbon said.

The latest battle, against 40 insurgents, 12km from Australia's main base at Tarin Kowt, is being hailed as a major blow to the Taliban .

Members of the Australian Special Operations Task Group and the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force began the operation in March.

Source

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Prisoners given a new avenue to sue over segregation

Harriet Alexander

April 25, 2009

A SUPREME Court judgment allowing two prisoners to sue the state over their lack of contact with other prisoners could open the doors for all segregated prisoners to take legal action against the NSW Government.

The convicted killer and alleged "SuperMax jihadist" ringleader, Bassam Hamzy, along with a fellow inmate, murderer Emad Sleiman, won the right yesterday to sue the Commissioner of Corrective Services, after claiming that being put into segregated custody represented false imprisonment.

Prisoners held in segregated custody are allowed only one hour of contact each day with one prisoner chosen by the commissioner.

Sleiman also won the right to claim damages for the six years he was held in segregated custody in the Goulburn SuperMax prison complex.

The commissioner, Ron Woodham, has described the inmates in Goulburn's SuperMax as "scumbags" and Hamzy continued the war of words yesterday with a gleeful reaction to the judgment handed down by Justice Michael Adams.

"I just f---ed the commissioner, I just f---ed the commissioner," he called through the door of his jail cell after the judge had left the bench, on footage that was captured by videolink in court.

The prisoners claim they were taken into segregated custody in the prison without the commissioner first obtaining a "segregated custody direction", which is mandatory under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, and that they were effectively being held in a prison inside a prison.

Justice Adams said it was necessary in the interests of society to imprison some people who broke the law, even sometimes in isolation, but that the restriction of liberty should not go "one inch further than the law permits".

"It has nothing to do with the personal merits, or lack of them, of the prisoner," he said.

"The law will be enforced, not because of what is owed to the prisoner, but because of what it owes itself and the community it serves."

Sleiman's barrister, Mark Robinson, said the judgment would open the gate for all prisoners held in segregated custody to sue the Government for damages. "It's a significant victory for people in the high risk management unit, and it's a significant victory for Mr Sleiman," he said.

"It goes to the lawfulness of detention. You're not allowed to be held in segregated custody unless there's an order for you to be held in segregated custody. Almost everyone held in the high risk management unit is held without a segregated custody direction."

Hamzy was recently accused of allegedly using dental floss to transport a phone between cells to co-ordinate a drug ring that supplied users in Sydney and Melbourne.

He is serving a minimum of 21 years for a 1998 murder, and gained notoriety in 2007 for allegedly masterminding a mass breakout plot.

Source

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Aussie charged with plane bomb hoax

Paola Totaro

March 24, 2009 - 10:40AM

An Australian man has been charged after a bomb hoax sparked an emergency evacuation of an Emirates flight at London's Gatwick Airport on Sunday.

Matthew Carney, 23, from Melbourne, was arrested after a note was discovered on board the flight from Dubai to London.

The note, found 10 minutes before the flight landed, allegedly suggested an explosive device was hidden on the plane.

The plane was carrying 184 passengers.

Explosive experts searched the luggage on board the plane while passengers were evacuated and interviewed by police.

Carney was charged with communicating information which was believed to be false and with the intention of inducing a false belief that an object liable to explode or ignite was present in the cargo of a plane, police said.

Carney entered no plea in court and was remanded in custody to appear again on Thursday.
This is
the second incident involving Emirates in recent days.

The tail of an Airbus A40-500 touched the runway as it was taking off from Melbourne Airport about 10.30pm on Friday.

The plane, which carried more than 200 passengers, circled Port Phillip for about half an hour while fuel was dumped. The plane then made an emergency landing. No passengers were injured and the airline is investigating the incident.

Source

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Weapons smuggled on flight

Geoffrey Thomas

March 12, 2009

TWO boys have smuggled a stolen arsenal of handguns, knives and 3000 rounds of ammunition through two West Australian airports in one of the state's most serious breaches of airline security.

The boys, aged 11 and 14, packed the weapons in their checked-in luggage on a Qantas flight from Karratha to Perth on Monday night.

On arrival in Perth, they retrieved the baggage and checked in for a 10.55pm Jetstar flight to Cairns, where they were arrested after landing at 4.10am on Tuesday.

Qantas has admitted that "explosive trace detection" X-ray machines failed to pick up the ammunition.

The 14-year-old, who allegedly stole the weapons and ammunition from a shop in Karratha, has been charged and will face the Weipa Children's Court on Tuesday.

Federal police were tipped off about the theft by Karratha officers. They intercepted the boys and their luggage at Cairns airport where they were waiting to board a flight to Weipa.

Their baggage also contained a Ruger revolver, a .22-calibre pistol, 14 knives and other weapons.

The West Australian Police Minister, Rob Johnson, said: "If that is substantiated, I would certainly have some discussions with the minister and those people with responsibility for security at our airports."

A Qantas spokesman told The West Australian it was aware of the incident but there was "absolutely no flight security threat".

Because one of the boys was aged under 13, Qantas and Jetstar staff chaperoned the boys throughout their journey.

Source

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Court OK with using covert evidence

Catharine Munro

March 5, 2009

THE High Court has approved the use of secret evidence in a surprise decision, provoking calls for a charter of rights to ensure fair trials.

In a decision that could pave the way for similar laws in NSW, the seven judges agreed unanimously that the South Australia Police could present secret criminal intelligence to a judge to stop a liquor licence being issued.

Constitutional lawyers and civil libertarians criticised the decision. "This is Alice in Wonderland stuff: you have the verdict and then the trial," said Cameron Murphy, the president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties.

In 2005, Genargi Krasnov, a nightclub owner, failed to get a licence for a karaoke bar in Adelaide's central business district, even though his criminal record consisted only of traffic offences. Mr Krasnov went all the way to the High Court to challenge the powers of the South Australia Police after they gave criminal intelligence to the courts. He was not given the chance to see the police file or defend himself against it.

"I think it's a worrying decision," said the constitutional law expert Professor George Williams, of the University of NSW. "Normally judges are very jealous in guarding the concept of natural justice. They go out of their way to ensure people affected get all the information."

At Mr Krasnov's first appeal, in the Licensing Court of South Australia, Judge Paul Rice said he was working with "draconian" laws when he received secret evidence from witnesses. But the High Court disagreed.

The Chief Justice, Robert French, quoted Hansard to say that the laws were designed to stop the infiltration of organised crime into the liquor and hospitality industry because the current laws were not strong enough. He said the integrity of the court would not be weakened because judges could choose whether or not to accept police information.

But a senior barrister, who did not wish to be named, said judges did not have the resources to test police intelligence.

The decision, handed down last month, caught constitutional lawyers by surprise. Terry O'Gorman, the national president of the Australian Council for Civil Liberties, said prescribing the right to a fair trial in a bill of rights would prevent such laws.

Mr O'Gorman said: "This case highlights the necessity for a charter of rights." He said that even a lawyer for a suspected terrorist was allowed to see the evidence against the defendant when police apply for a controversial control order.

Source

Latest police weapon: a secret search

Geesche Jacobsen

Crime Editor

March 5, 2009

NEW powers to secretly search homes and computers of people suspected of crimes ranging from murder to organised theft are wider than those now used against suspected terrorists.

The new covert search warrants would give police up to three years to delay informing targets they had carried out a raid on their property.

Standard search warrants, routinely issued by magistrates in closed hearings, require police to inform the target at the start of the raid.

Figures obtained by the Herald show that last financial year lower courts issued about 6600 search warrants to NSW police and other law enforcement agencies - an average of 18 a day.

Only about 300 applications were refused.

The proposed covert laws became necessary after the Supreme Court found in 2007 that three covert searches on a children's author suspected of drug offences had been unlawful.

The Council for Civil Liberties and the Law Society warned that the new laws could lead to an abuse of police powers and restrict the rights of citizens.

But the Premier, Nathan Rees, said: "If you are a serious criminal you should be very anxious. We now will have the power to enter your home without you knowing and collect evidence for subsequent prosecutions."

The new powers are to cover indictable offences carrying a maximum seven-year prison term and involving drugs, firearms or explosives, money laundering and fraud, violence causing grievous bodily harm, murder, destruction of property, organised theft, corruption, kidnapping, sexual offences or computer crime.

The covert search warrants would be approved by designated Supreme Court judges, who must hold reasonable suspicions that evidence of the alleged offence is at the home, or will be there within 10 days, and that it is necessary to search without the resident knowing.

The new laws would allow officers to impersonate another person while executing the search warrant and "do anything that is reasonable" to conceal the covert raid. However, the judges also have to consider the target's privacy.

The president of the Law Society, Joe Catanzariti, said it opposed the concept of covert search warrants. "The requirement for notice of an intended search is an important safeguard and in its absence the potential for abuse is extreme.

"[It] seriously undermines the balance between the state's right to investigate and prosecute crime and the rights of individuals to carry out their proper business and lives without fear of intrusion by the state."

Stephen Blanks, the secretary of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said police had enough powers. "Police will be opening themselves up to allegations that they have planted evidence or tampered with evidence when they are conducting searches without any independent supervision," he said.

Powers granted for suspected terrorists were being extended, showing the need for a human rights bill, he argued.

The Police Minister, Tony Kelly, said the NSW laws would grant police up to seven days to examine data from computers, whereas federal laws, aimed at terrorists, grant only 72 hours.

The proposed laws provide for reports on covert search warrants to Parliament and the Ombudsman. Mr Blanks also called for oversight by a public interest monitor, as in Queensland.

The Police Association's vice-president, Sergeant Scott Weber, said the powers were "a much needed tool … in the fight against organised crime".

Source

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Seven Vic terrorists sent to jail

February 3, 2009, 4:08 pm

Australia's first convicted terrorist leader has been jailed for at least 12 years.

Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who led a Melbourne terror cell that talked about attacking city landmarks and killing women and children, was sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Six of his followers from Melbourne's northern and western suburbs also received prison terms.
Justice Bernard Bongiorno told the court that Benbrika, 48, of the Melbourne suburb of Dallas, had not renounced his beliefs.

"All the evidence points to the conclusion that he maintains his position with respect to violent jihad," he said.
Justice Bongiorno said terrorist acts in modern times were carried out by unskilled fanatics like Benbrika and there was a need to protect society from criminals of his type.

Benbrika, a father of seven, was sentenced to a total of 27 years on three charges, including 15 years for intentionally directing the activities of a terrorist organisation.

He was sentenced to seven years for intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation and five years for possessing a CD connected with the preparation of a terrorist act.

He will serve the terms concurrently.

In a sentencing that lasted more than two hours, Justice Bongiorno also said many of Benbrika's followers had not renounced the group's extremist beliefs.

Aimen Joud, 24, of Hoppers Crossing, has been jailed for a minimum of seven-and-a-half years.

Abdullah Merhi, 23, of Fawkner, must serve a minimum of four years in prison.

Ahmed Raad, 25, of Fawkner, will be required to serve a minimum of seven-and-a-half years.

Amer Haddara, 29, of Yarraville, was sentenced to a minimum of four-and-a-half years.

Fadl Sayadi, 29, of Coburg, was sentenced to a minimum of six years prison and Ezzit Raad, 27, from Preston, must serve five years and nine months.

Justice Bongiorno said the group often referred to themselves as Mujahideen and talked about destroying buildings and killing infidels.

Benbrika and his followers were found guilty in September 2008 after a trial which lasted eight months.
Joud, convicted on four terror charges, was regarded as the heir apparent to Benbrika, had showed an impatience that the group was not progressing in its aim of jihad more quickly.

"Joud undoubtedly took a leadership role," Justice Bongiorno said.

"There is no evidence before the court that he has abandoned his belief in violent jihad ... there is no evidence at all that he has resiled from being a would-be terrorist."

Joud was convicted on providing resources and making funds available to a terrorist organisation, being a member of a terrorist organisation and possessing a CD connected with the preparation of a terrorist act.

The men had been in custody since November 2005 when they were arrested during raids in Melbourne's northern and western suburbs.

The trial heard from more than 50 witnesses and was played thousands of hours of listening device material and telephone intercepts.

Jurors heard Benbrika had told his followers it was "permissible to kill women, children and the aged" and that the group needed to kill at least 1,000 non-believers to make the Australian government withdraw soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan .

Sayadi was an organiser in the group and gave advice on how to access jihadi websites, the court heard.

The judge said Sayadi has not in any way moderated or changed his extremist views.

Justice Bongiorno also said letters tendered on behalf of Merhi that demonstrated he was now opposed to killing innocent people could not be accepted because they were not properly tested by him giving evidence.
Ahmed Raad, who turned to Benbrika's religious instruction after the death of his brother, was effectively the treasurer of the group, the court heard.

Justice Bongiorno accepted that Ezzit Raad was less involved than other members of the group.

Haddara was only convicted of being a member of the organisation.

Justice Bongiorno said the evidence of a plot to blow up the MCG would not be taken into account because the man who gave the evidence, Izzydeen Atik, was a liar and a fraudster.

Source