Terrorist prisoners face indefinite detention if they remain radicalised
AUSTRALIA’S most notorious convicted terrorists face indefinite detention if they remain radicalised at the end of their jail sentence.
NSW
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AUSTRALIA’S most notorious convicted terrorists face indefinite detention if they remain radicalised at the end of their jail sentence.
Laws to be introduced in federal parliament this week are aimed at the likes of teenage terrorist Sevdet Besim, jailed for 10 years last week over his plot to run down a police officer and cut off his head on Anzac Day.
The legislation — known as High Risk Terrorist Offender legislation — will update the criminal code to allow for post-sentence preventive detention if a Supreme Court judge can be convinced the terrorist poses an unacceptable risk of conducting an attack if released.
Under a second piece of legislation to be introduced this week, children as young as 14 could be jailed for five years if they breach the conditions of new control orders — the same penalty that applies to adults.
As the world today marks the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks that killed 2977 people in the US, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned of the need for vigilance against homegrown attacks.
“Around 200 people in Australia are being investigated for providing support to individuals and groups in the Syria-Iraq conflict.”
Nearly 50 people have been charged with terrorist offences in the past two years.
The new legislation will affect the ringleaders of some of Australia’s biggest terror plots, including Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who is likely to be deported when he completes his sentence but could also be subject to the new laws, along with Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Abdul Rakib Hasan and Mohammed Omar Jamal.
The men were part of a terrorist cell that planned to attack an unspecified Sydney target and had links to Melbourne extremist Benbrika.
The law is aimed at unrepentant terrorists with no desire to rehabilitate but it is hoped the tough provisions might also address the growing threat of radicalisation within Australia’s toughest jails.
Mr Turnbull said the new laws were a matter of public safety.
“But there are still people outside our country, and some within it, who hate the freedoms that we enjoy and would seek to threaten them and undermine them with violence,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Around 200 people in Australia are being investigated for providing support to individuals and groups in the Syria-Iraq conflict.
“So we must not only attacks the disease at its source in the Middle East but redouble our efforts at home.”
Separate provisions will also allow for control orders to be placed on teenage terrorists as young as 14.
Control orders, which have rarely been used in Australia, would apply for a maximum of three months, rather than the 12 months for adults.
But if teenagers breach the control order conditions, which include curfews and electronic monitoring, the penalties will include five years in prison, regardless of whether the person is a child or an adult.
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