Police to drop charges against Sri Lankan UNSW staffer they accused of plotting terror
POLICE alleged Sydney IT worker Mohamed Kamer Nilar Nizamdeen of being a lone wolf Islamic State supporter but he was freed on bail last month after the sole piece of evidence against him fell apart.
NSW
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POLICE have refused to apologise to a Sri Lankan university staffer they accused of plotting to assassinate Australian politicians even though they dropped charges against him yesterday.
Counter-terrorism bosses said detectives acted in good faith when they swooped on Mohamed Kamer Nilar Nizamdeen in August and labelled him a lone wolf Islamic State supporter.
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The Sydney IT worker spent a month in solitary confinement at Goulburn’s notorious Supermax prison before his release on bail last month. He was freed after the sole piece of evidence against him fell apart.
Mr Nizamdeen was arrested after a colleague discovered a notebook on campus containing a bloody hit list targeting former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, his then deputy Julie Bishop and the Opera House.
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Mick Willing said experts yesterday confirmed handwriting analysis of the notebook does not match Mr Nizamdeen’s but wouldn’t comment on concerns the real author could still be at large, saying the probe is continuing but there’s no current threat.
Mr Willing denied that police had ruined the young man’s life or that the backflip was embarrassing.
“Sometimes you have to act early,” he said. “You have to put public safety first.”
Mr Nizamdeen’s defence solicitor, Moustafa Kheir, said being locked up in solitary confinement had taken a huge toll on the star University NSW commerce graduate.
“What authorities have done to this man is absolutely unforgivable,” he said outside Central Local Court. “It’s a terrible experience as a young man who has done everything right in life.”
Mr Kheir vowed to launch civil action and apply for costs over the criminal proceedings. “We are seeking justice through every avenue possible,” he said.
Mr Nizamdeen, a nephew of Sri Lanka’s sports and local government minister, was living in Australia on a student visa that has been cancelled.
The model student starred in UNSW promotional material that was removed the day he was charged with knowingly making a document connected with terrorism.
Mr Nizamdeen’s matter will return to court for a costs application on November 23.