Curtis Cheng Parramatta murder: Intense police hunt for terrorists but meet the one who got away
DOZENS of supporters turned up to court today for the second day of the committal hearing for Talal Alameddine, Milad Atai and Mustafa Diran, accused of acting in concert with Farhad Jabar, who killed police employee Curtis Cheng, in 2015.
NSW
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DOZENS of supporters turned up to court today for the second day of the committal hearing for three accused terrorists — 24-year-old Talal Alameddine, 21-year-old Milad Atai and 23-year-old Mustafa Diran, accused of acting in concert with Farhad Jabar who killed police employee Curtis Cheng in 2015.
Police employee Curtis Cheng was murdered in a terror attack despite the men accused of planning the plot that killed him being under intense surveillance at the time.
A Sydney court has heard how 15-year-old schoolboy Farhad Jabar — who killed Mr Cheng in October 2015 — slipped through the net despite being caught on security footage 15 minutes before the attack raising his finger in an Islamic State salute while walking out of Parramatta Mosque.
The court was shown a bloody note found on Jabar after he was shot dead for the murder of Mr Curtis, which he had written as a warning to “disbelievers”.
“Your nights will turn into nightmares your days into hell and your planning is nothing to us!!” the note said.
“By the will of Allah I have come today to put terror into your hearts.”
The note also says “know your security means nothing to us” and “know your weapons are nothing compared to what we have, Our Lord, the all powerful”.
A draft of the suicide note was also tendered to court, with the Crown arguing it was written by Jabar’s older sister Shadi Jabar. She flew to Syria the day before the murder.
The shocking new evidence was revealed during a committal hearing for three accused terrorists — 24-year-old Talal Alameddine, 21-year-old Milad Atai and 23-year-old Mustafa Dirani — all of whom were wearing prison greens as they watched from the dock of the Sydney Downing Centre Local Court.
During the hearing the court was played police surveillance videos that showed the accused and another man, Raban Alou, as they drove to different areas in Western Sydney to source the Smith and Wesson revolver later given to Jabar inside the mosque.
Police aerial and ground surveillance videos actually recorded the men meeting several times.
Phone conversations were also being recorded.
Crown prosecutor Paul McGuire SC said the phone taps were evidence of the group discussing how to obtain the gun which was later used to murder Mr Cheng.
The court was played a conversation between Alou and Alameddine as they drove in a car towards Merrylands in Sydney’s west just hours before the murder.
ALOU: What did you bring?
ALAMEDDINE: Well I brang (sic) the 30 cal bro. You wanted to get the big one?
ALOU: nah nah nah Parramatta shit bro “wallah”.
ALAMEDDINE: This is bad man.
Mr McGuire told the court it was the Crown case that the conversation between Alameddine and Alou was a discussion about the acquisition of a .30 calibre firearm. He argued Alou was unhappy about the type of firearm that had been acquired, which prompted the group to drive to Merrylands to get another type of weapon.
Earlier during the committal hearing the court was shown a series of Whatsapp messages between Alou, Atai and Dirani where they share pictures of Australian Defence Force personnel who appear to be getting off a bus.
At one point in the Whatsapp conversation Alou says in relation to the images: “May Allah curse them all and destroy them to pieces.”
Alameddine, Alou, Atai and Dirani all face a number of charges including preparing or planning a terrorist act, which carries a maximum of life imprisonment.
Atai is accused of helping Jabar’s older sister flee the country the day before the murder, Alameddine and Dirani are charged with supplying the gun used to kill Mr Cheng and Alou is accused of then giving the gun to Jabar.
Mr McGuire said that after Jabar shot Mr Cheng, the online Islamic State magazine Dabiq referred to the teenager as among the “brave knights” of jihad who had “struck the crusaders of Australia and killed one of their personnel”.
“The Crown says that reference ... establishes that the Islamic State was taking credit for the act of terror that was committed by (Farhad Jabar),” Mr McGuire said.
The hearing, slated to run for five days, is being held to see whether magistrate Clare Farnan thinks there is sufficient evidence for the matter to proceed to a NSW Supreme Court trial before a jury.
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