By Tara Cosoleto
A convicted terrorist who pledged allegiance to Islamic State after lighting bushfires could be released from prison in just under three years.
Aran Sherani, 22, looked down and smiled after he was sentenced in the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday morning.
Sherani was found guilty in 2023 of preparing a terrorist act after declaring his allegiance to Islamic State and threatening to die as a martyr in a March 2021 video.
Police arrived to arrest him at his home in Melbourne’s north, but he ran away and bought a knife, which he held up during the video.
Justice Amanda Fox said Sherani intended to threaten police with the knife, rather than planning to actually stab them.
“While the plan remained afoot, you were committed to its execution,” Fox said in her sentencing remarks.
Aran Sherani outside court in 2023.Credit: Simon Schluter
“However, you voluntarily abandoned the plan and the ultimate arrest was made without resistance.”
Sherani was also filmed lighting two bushfires in February 2021, where he stated he would burn down cities and punish non-believers.
The Supreme Court jury acquitted Sherani of attempting to commit terrorist acts by lighting the bushfires, but he did plead guilty to being a member of a terrorist organisation.
Fox said the fires showed the lengths Sherani was prepared to go to in his support of Islamic State.
Aran Sherani (right) is escorted into the Australian Federal Police headquarters in Melbourne after his arrest in 2021.Credit: AFP
“You embraced a depraved ideology and sought to advance the ideology through your own actions,” the judge said.
Fox said Sherani first made contact with members of the terrorist group in January 2021 because he wanted their help to travel to Kurdistan to fight and commit “jihad”.
Sherani began creating propaganda videos for Islamic State, which Fox found were “clearly intended to inspire terrorist acts”.
The judge said Sherani had an interest in the Kurdish plight due to his family background, but he became radicalised online during the pandemic.
The 22-year-old grew up in an unstable home where his father was cruel and violent, Fox said.
Sherani planned to distance himself from his father and study law once he turned 18, but the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he was instead stuck at home, she said.
He spent more time online and, in early 2021, became connected with Islamic State members.
At his pre-sentencing hearing in July, Sherani told the court he denounced the terrorist group and he no longer believed Islamic State would help the Kurdish people.
He also claimed a more moderate and practical approach to Islam.
Fox accepted Sherani rejected Islamic State, but still held concerns.
“There is a risk you could be radicalised again, but it’s unknown what you may or may not believe in the future,” she said.
Fox took into account Sherani’s guilty plea on the membership offence, his difficult conditions in custody due to the pandemic and the support he had from his family.
But she said terror offences must be denounced due to the ongoing and serious threats posed by groups such as Islamic State.
Sherani was jailed for eight years and will be eligible for parole in just under three, because of time served in pre-sentence detention.
His elder brother, Ari Sherani, who admitted filming one of the bushfire videos, was found not guilty by the jury of attempting to commit terrorist acts.
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