Islam not on trial

Islam not on trial

By Nukte Ogun

Five Sydney men are facing trial, accused of conspiring to commit a terrorist act to influence the Federal Government’s policy on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Khaled and Moustafa Cheiko, Mohamed Elomar, Abdul Rhakib Hasan and Mohammed Omar Jamal, aged 24 to 43, allegedly possessed material, ‘which supported indiscriminate killing, mass murder and martyrdom in the pursuit of violent jihad,’ said Crown prosecutor, Richard Maidment, SC.

Coined ‘the Sydney Five’, the men had extremist material, including bomb-making instructions and files praising Osama Bin Ladin, Maidment told the jury. Under surveillance by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), the men allegedly gathered firearms and explosives, between July 2004 and their arrest in November 2005, to use in a terrorist attack on Australia. Some of the arrested were also found in possession of mobile phones registered in false names.

But the circumstantial case against the men has attracted wide-spread criticism, turning Parramatta courthouse into a target for demonstrators, including former Guantanamo Bay detainee, Mamdouh Habib.

‘This is a circumstantial case,’ said Supreme Court Justice Anthony Whealy, reminding jury members of the need to be convinced beyond reasonable doubt. ‘You must take prejudice and bias out of this trial altogether,’ added Justice Whealy. ‘The Muslim religion is not on trial here.’

The case follows the re-trial of Jack Thomas, which found Thomas not guilty of intentionally receiving funds from al-Qaeda. He was the first to be convicted under the Howard Government’s anti-terror laws. While Thomas has been cleared of terrorism, he has been slapped with the lesser charge of falsifying an Australian passport, which he did to remove a Taliban visa and re-enter Australia.

Facing possible life sentences, if convicted, the Sydney Five have pleaded not guilty. The trial is expected to continue over nine months.
 

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