Shane Kent admits terrorist links

Guilty plea ... Shane Kent outside a Melbourne court

MELBOURNE man Shane Kent has pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to being a member of a terrorist organisation and being involved in preparing a terrorist act.

Kent, 32, made the admission on Tuesday just before a jury was to be empanelled for what was to be his retrial after a jury was unable to reach a verdict in his original trial last September.

He faced a trial last year along with 11 other men accused of being members of a Melbourne terror group that had discussed plans to bomb various landmarks in the city, including the MCG on AFL grand final day.

Kent, from Campbellfield, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to one count of intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation between July 2004 and November 2005.

The father of three also pleaded guilty to one count of making a document connected with the preparation of a terrorist act. Read more ...

Source: The Courier-Mail

Benbrika jailed for 27 years

Mex Cooper | February 3

The leader of a Melbourne-based terrorist cell has been sentenced to 27 years' jail.

Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, will serve 12 years' jail before being eligible for parole.

Justice Bernard Bongiorno in the Supreme Court said a terrorist organisation led by Benbrika had been dedicated to the destruction of non-believers but the group had not planned specific attacks despite the evidence of a key prosecution witness.

Benbrika became the first Australian to be convicted of leading a terrorist group last September, following the country's biggest-ever terrorism trial that lasted seven months and cost tens of millions of dollars.

The father-of-seven faced a maximum 25 years' prison for directing the terrorist group that the jury heard had discussed attacking Melbourne's Crown Casino and bombing the MCG.

Benbrika was also convicted of possessing a compact disc connected to the preparation of a terrorist act.

But in sentencing Benbrika and six of his followers today, Justice Bongiorno said he did not accept the evidence of Izzydeen Atik, who claimed Benbrika told him the terror cell had planned to target the casino on Grand Prix weekend in 2006 and the MCG on Grand Final day in 2005 and the
2006 NAB Cup.

Atik had been a member of the group before pleading guilty to belonging to a terrorist organisation in July 2007 and was jailed for just over four years.

Justice Bongiorno said Atik was a liar and a cheat who had defrauded the social security system while living in a luxury townhouse and employing a butler.

At the time, he was earning thousands of dollars a month from a credit card scam, the court heard.

But Justice Bongiorno said the terror group had still posed a "significant threat'' and may have carried out a terrorist attack if not stopped.

He said the men had committed serious crimes but not as serious as if Atik's evidence had been accepted.

Benbrika used warped teachings of Islam to recruit his young followers and encourage them to wage violent jihad against "non-believers'' in Australia.

Justice Bongiorno said although the word jihad had many meanings in Islam, Benbrika used the term only to mean a violent attack by his group to advance the Islamic cause.

He said Benbrika had admired Osama Bin Laden and believed that killing people and destroying buildings was justified as it would help pressure the Australian Government into withdrawing troops from Iraq and leaving the American alliance.

The court heard Benbrika had told one of his followers, Abdullah Merhi, not just to kill a few people but to ``do a big thing''.

Merhi had responded "like Spain,'' in reference to terrorist attacks on Madrid, Justice Bongiorno said.

In May 2004, a Victorian undercover police officer posing as a Turkish Muslim man had infiltrated the group.

Five months later, he offered to show Benbrika how to make explosives and took Benbrika to a remote bush location north of Melbourne where he detonated a device.

Benbrika asked how much explosive would be needed to blow up building and homes but did not ask the undercover agent to get him any of the bomb-making ingredients or tell any of the other members of the group about the demonstration.

Six of Benbrika's followers, aged in their 20s, from Melbourne's western and northern suburbs, will today also be sentenced.

Justice Bongiorno said terrorism laws meant those charged with offences had a criminal liability earlier than in other criminal cases.

Remy van de Wiel, QC, had argued at pre-sentence hearings that Benbrika's sentence should be tempered because he suffered from depression and an undiagnosed medical condition which caused him to have ``embarrassing involuntary movements'' and would make his prison time more
stressful.

He had said Benbrika had not properly led the group, which had never grown beyond an ``embryonic terrorist organisation''.

But Justice Bongiorno said by its existence and nature the organisation had fostered in its members the desire to commit terrorist activities.

He said the evidence suggested that Benbrika was still committed to violent jihad, had shown no contrition for his offences and had talked about continuing the group's activities behind bars if its members were jailed.

Benbrika had served 1184 days in custody after being arrested in November 2005.

Source: The Age
H/T: JR

Pre-sentence hearing for convicted members of Benbrika terror group

Gary Hughes | November 20, 2008

A HOME-grown Melbourne Muslim terror cell was no less dangerous because it was "tin pot" with a relatively small membership and few financial resources, a court was told today.

"You don't need a lot of money to make a big bomb," Crown prosecutor Nicholas Robinson told a Victorian Supreme Court pre-sentencing hearing for seven convicted members of the group.

Mr Robinson said the fact that a group had not been declared a proscribed terrorist organisation under federal anti-terrorism laws did not make it less dangerous.

It simply meant the group had not yet been identified and gained notoriety.

Mr Robinson was responding to a submission by defence barrister Michael Croucher that joining an unknown "tin pot crowd" was a less serious than joining an organisation such as al-Qa'ida with a "horrific track record" of terrorist attacks.

But Mr Robinson said it was "just not so" that a home-grown group was any less dangerous.

Although the group led by self-proclaimed cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika had relatively limited financial resources, it was working at increasing them through stealing cars, credit card fraud and receiving regular contributions from members, Mr Robinson said.

Mr Croucher said his client, Abdullah Merhi, 23, should receive no more than four years in jail because he had renounced Benbrika's "putrid views" and left the group in mid-1985, five months before he was arrested.

But Mr Robinson said there was evidence in secretly taped conversations that Merhi was a member of the group right up until his arrest.

Merhi is one of seven Melbourne Muslim men convicted in September of belonging to the Benbrika terrorist cell, which the original trial was told plotted to attack the AFL Grand Final at the MCG in 2005.

Merhi was found not guilty of providing resources to the group by offering to be a suicide bomber.

The pre-sentencing hearing for the seven men is continuing.

Source: The Australian

Five of seven men convicted of being part of a home-grown Melbourne terror cell have refused to renounce their violent jihadi views.

Norrie Ross
November 18, 2008 01:52pm

As the Supreme Court today commenced pre- sentence plea hearings for the convicted men, prosecutor Nick Robinson SC said their failure to renounce terrorist views was disturbing.

Mr Robinson said Ezzit Raad, Fadl Sayadi, Aimen Joud, Abdullah Merhi and Ahmed Raad had all placed material before the court where they actively refused to renounce the terrorist philosophy behind their crimes.

In their submission to the pre-sentence hearing they rejected the verdicts of the jury, he said, and there was no evidence they did not “continue to adhere to the philosophy of violent jihad”.

In September the men, along with two others, were convicted of a number of terrorist offences.

The trial heard the potential targets of the group were the MCG on Grand Final Day, Melbourne’s rail network and the Crown casino during Grand Prix week.

Barrister Greg Barns, in his plea on behalf of Ezzit Raad, said his client had a lower level of culpability than some of the other convicted men and was only heard speaking on 23 out of 482 secretly recorded conversations between members.

“He is a member but a member who has a relatively minor role in the organisation,” Mr Barns said.

Mr Barns said Ezzit Raad did not accept the verdict but he held no grudge against the Australian community or the prosecution.

He said his client believed he had been convicted for what he thought rather than what he did and he believed the breadth of anti-terror legislation was to blame for his conviction.

Justice Bernard Bongiorno remarked that in one crucial conversation involving Ezzit Raad there was talk of raising money to obtain guns and he said on one view it revealed what the organisation hoped to become.

The judge said it might never have achieved its ends but the prospect was “pretty frightening”.

The court heard Ezzit Raad, 26, an electrician from Preston, is married with two children.

At the trial he denied the existence of any group when interviewed by police and described its spiritual leader as nothing more than a friend.

In one conversation Ezzit Raad was recorded to have said it was a pity more people had not died in the 2005 London terrorist bombings

He was found guilty of intentionally making funds available to a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation

He was also convicted of being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation

The other convicted men were:

Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 48, of Dallas

Also known as Abu Bakr, the Algerian-born Muslim cleric arrived in Australia in 1989. He married in 1992 and has seven children. He was said to be the spiritual leader of the group and they called him “Sheik”. He was found:

- Guilty of intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of intentionally directing the activities of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of possessing a CD connected with the preparation of a terrorist act.

Aimen Joud, 23, project manager, of Hoppers Crossing

The second-youngest member of the group, he used 13 mobile phones at different times, only one in his own name. The court was told he helped run the group as part of a three-man leadership committee. He denied trying to buy weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles. He was found:

- Guilty of intentionally providing resources to a terrorist organisation knowing it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of intentionally making funds available to a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of two counts of possessing a CD connected with the preparation of a terrorist act.

Fadl Sayadi, 28, forklift driver and concreter, of Coburg

Alleged to have been the group's intelligence and security officer and a member of a three-man leadership committee. Warned Benbrika to be careful of an undercover police officer attempting to infiltrate the group

- Guilty of intentionally providing resources to a terrorist organisation knowing it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

Ahmed Raad, 25, of Fawkner

Married with one child, he is the brother of two other accused, Ezzit and Majed Raad. The court was told he looked after the group's joint fund, or "sandooq", as part of a three-man leadership committee. He was found:

- Guilty of intentionally providing resources to a terrorist organisation knowing it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of intentionally making funds available to a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

- Guilty of being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

Abdullah Merhi, 23, apprentice electrician, of Fawkner

Married with one child and the youngest of the accused. It was alleged he wanted to become a suicide bomber for the group. His lawyer claimed Merhi was an impressionable young man who fell under Benbrika's spell. He was found:

- Guilty of being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing that it was a terrorist organisation.

Amer Haddara 28, of Yarraville

- Guilty of being a member of a terrorist organisation, knowing it was a terrorist organisation.

Hany Taha, 33, of Hadfield, Shoue Hammoud, 28, of Hadfield and Bassam Raad, 27, of Brunswick and Majed Raad, 23, of Coburg were cleared by the jury of all charges.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict in the case of Shane Kent, 31, of Meadow Heights and he has since been released on bail.

Source: Herald Sun

Benbrika guilty on terror charges

September 15, 2008

A MELBOURNE Muslim cleric has been found guilty of leading a terrorist organisation.

After almost four weeks of deliberation, jurors today found Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 48, guilty on all counts, including that of intentionally being a member of a terrorist organisation.

Five of Benbrika's followers have been found guilty of being members of a terrorist group, while four more were found not guilty of the charge.

The jury is yet to decide on the fate of two further people charged in the terrorism trial.

After a Supreme Court trial that ran for 115 days, jurors took three weeks and five days to reach a verdict.

The 12 men, who were arrested in 2005, were accused of planning terrorist acts in Melbourne, involving the detonation of an explosive or use of weapons.

Australia's biggest terror trial heard from more than 50 witnesses and was played thousands of hours of listening device material and telephone intercepts.

The jury heard Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, had told his followers it was “permissible to kill women, children and the aged” and that the group needed to kill at least 1000 non-believers to make the Australian government withdraw soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.

In April, prosecution witness Izzydeen Atik told the court Benbrika had told him of the targets in 2005.

“He said the AFL grand final was the original target,” Atik told the court.

When the plan to target the crowd of close to 100,000 on grand final day had to be shelved, the terrorists allegedly spoke about planning to attack Crown Casino during the 2006 Australian Formula One Grand Prix and a pre-season AFL game.

Earlier this month Justice Bernard Bongiorno warned jurors Atik was a liar and fraudster whose evidence against 12 alleged terrorists was unsafe.

“If you are considering Atik's evidence you must do so in the light of the cloud hanging over him,” Justice Bongiorno said.

In his opening address in February, prosecutor Richard Maidment SC spoke of a group that was exclusively Muslim and male, set up in Melbourne to carry out a violent jihad.

Defence lawyers argued the men were not terrorists, but young men learning about Islam from a self-styled sheikh who, “couldn't organise a booze-up in a brewery”.

Benbrika's lawyer Remy Van de Wiel said his client was an unworldly man who thought it was possible to drive to Tasmania.
more to come

Source:The Australian