Australian Neil Prakash guilty of terror offences in Turkey court

Australian Islamic State operative Neil Prakash has been convicted of terror offences in Turkey, as his prison sentence was revealed.

Australian Islamic State operative Neil Prakash has been found guilty of terror offences in Turkey and will serve another 2.5 years in jail.

Prakash, 27, was found guilty overnight in the Kilis Criminal Court of committing crimes against the state of Turkey by being a member of Islamic State.

The Melbourne schoolboy-turned IS terrorist and propagandist was sentenced to six years’ jail with a 50 per cent loading for terror crimes, taking his head sentence to nine years.

Australian-born Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash. Picture: AAP

Judge Ismail Deniz then discounted it to 7.5 years on the basis Prakash had contributed to the court by providing information about the Islamic State terror group he served in Syria for three years.

With good behaviour, he would serve between three and four years. Taking into account time served, the judge said he would likely be released in two years’ time.

Prakash, who has been in jail in Gaziantep in Turkey since October 2016, said “saol’’ — the Turkish word for “thanks’’ — as the judge completed his sentencing remarks.

Kilis Criminal Court in Kilis, Turkey, where Neil Prakash was found guilty. Picture: Supplied

Beamed into the Kilis court on the Turkish/Syrian border by video link from the Gaziantep H-Type Prison, Prakash, wearing eye glasses and with long hair, showed no emotion as the judge handed down his sentence.

He asked to speak, and disregarding the English interpreter, spoke in fluent Turkish, admitting his membership of Islamic State but claiming he regretted it.

“I am very regretful I have done these things. I did them with force (under duress),’’ he said.

“They (Islamic State) forced me to do it. I didn’t do it under my own free will.

His lawyer Resat Devran said Prakash, who has previously admitted undergoing religious training, learning to use a Kalashnikov and fighting on the front line in Kobane, was remorseful.

“He accepted the membership of ISIS, he regrets it,’’ Mr Devran said.

Neil Prakash in propaganda ISIS video Picture: News Corp

He said Prakash soon realised Islamic State used force against innocent Muslims and “had nothing to do with Islam.’’

“He hasn’t taken any action against the Turkish state, Turkish citizens, or anything related to Turkey,’’ he said.

Judge Deniz told him he would be able to appeal the verdict.

A separate appeal by Australia against the court’s decision to reject an extradition application to have Prakash tried in Australia remains in the appeals court.

Prakash, the Melbourne-born son of a Fijian father and Cambodian mother, was raised a Buddhist but converted to Islam and began supporting Islamic State after attending the infamous and now-closed al-Furqan bookstore in Melbourne’s Springvale in 2012, run by hate preacher Harun Mehicevic.

He went to Syria in 2013 and became a leading Islamic State cheerleader and enabler, publishing propaganda videos and encouraging attacks on the west including in Australia.

Former Melbourne man Neil Prakash urged terrorist attacks in Australia in an Islamic State propaganda video. Picture: Supplied

He provided logistics advice to other would-be jihadis, was in touch with the perpetrators of several terror plots in Australia and the UK, and was deemed so valuable to the jihadi cause America put him on their kill list.

He has been in jail since October 2016, when he was arrested sneaking back across the Syrian border into Turkey following the collapse of the Islamic State caliphate.

What happens to Prakash after his jail terms expires is unclear.

Peter Dutton, Federal Minister for Home Affairs, speaks about the citizenship status of the terrorist Neil Prakash. Picture: AAP

Australia last year revoked his Australian citizenship, saying he could fall back on Fijian nationality, a claim that Fiji denies.

He has no passport, and has said he does not want to return to Australia anyway.

Turkey has previously deported foreign fighters who served jail terms in Turkey to their home countries, but it’s unclear where Prakash could be deported to, with both Australia and Fiji rejecting him.

Neil Prakash’s lawyer Resat Devran outside the Kilis Criminal Court. Picture: Engin Baş

Mr Devran told News Corp outside the court that Prakash was effectively stateless.

“If he remains stateless he will have special conditions,’’ he said.

“He will go to a refugee detention camp and hold under custody.’’

Mr Devran said UN laws prevented the extradition of stateless people who were not deemed to be a danger.

He said any decision on whether Prakash was stateless was a matter for the Turkish interior ministry, and would be considered when he was to be released.

Originally published as Australian Neil Prakash guilty of terror offences in Turkey court