How terrorists are kept behind bars even though they are eligible for release

Australia’s jihadi Bonnie and Clyde wannabes, who were jailed for plotting a New Year’s Eve terror attack on random members of the public, have been refused their first chance at freedom.

Exclusive: Australia’s jihadi Bonnie and Clyde wannabes, who were jailed for plotting a New Year’s Eve terror attack, have been refused their first chance at freedom.

Sameh Bayda was jailed for four years and his wife Alo-Bridget Namoa, three years and nine months for their plan to stab random members of the public on a Sydney street in 2016. With time spent in custody since their arrest, the pair are already eligible for parole.

A chilling selfie taken by Alo-Bridget Namoa shows her with husband Sameh Bayda.

But the Federal Attorney-General, Christian Porter, has stepped in and stopped their release. Since May 1, last year, the Attorney-General has refused parole for 16 federal offenders. Among those are terrorists Faheem Lodhi, Bilal Khazal and it is understood the spiritual leader of Australia’s biggest terror plot, Melbourne terrorist, Abdul Nacer Benbrika.

A spokesman for the Attorney-General said Mr Porter will reconsider in August whether Bayda and Namoa should be released on parole.

Alo-Bridget Namoa covers her head outside Silverwater prison with her mother and family members. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Bilal Khazal, a former Qantas baggage handler and confidante of Osama bin Laden who was jailed for publishing a do-it-yourself terrorism manual, also had his parole refused in the past year.

At the time, Khazal one of Australia’s most notorious convicted terrorists was reportedly still considered to be a risk to public safety and national security if he was released. Khazal is due to be reconsidered for parole again this month.

Mr Porter also stopped Australia’s first convicted terrorist, Faheem Lodhi, from being released in May on parole. Lodhi was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 20 years jail in 2006. Lodhi’s automatic parole will be reviewed every 12 months until his release or his sentence ends in 2026.

Sameh Bayda and his bride Alo-Bridget Namoa spent barely a month as husband and wife in 2016 before they were arrested for planning to stab members of the public with a knife on New Year’s Eve.

Benbrika’s full 15-year jail sentence for directing a terrorist organisation is due to expire in 2020. His non-parole period of 12-years expired in 2017. He has been refused parole every year since then.

During Bayda and Namoa’s trial it was revealed the 18-year-olds had a vast amount of extremist Islamic State material, including graphic execution videos on their phones and it reflected their violent ideology at the time.

Sameh Bayda and his wife believed they had a “religious obligation to attack nonbelievers”.

It was also revealed that Bayda had given Namoa a hunting knife and a black Shahada flag to look after as part of their plot, and that the pair believed they had a “religious obligation to attack non-believers”.

Namoa had been encouraging her young husband to commit an act and sent text a message to him saying “I wanna do an Islamic Bonnie and Clyde version on the kuffs (an insulting reference to non-Muslims) haha.”

Both Bayda and Namoa were warned when they were sentenced, that an application may be made to keep them in detention even after they finished their prison sentences.

“If the Attorney-General was inclined to grant parole when the decision is due to be made in August 2019, the Attorney-General would then also consider the conditions of parole and any other measures needed to ensure public safety,” the spokesman said.

“Such conditions may include (but are not limited to) electronic monitoring, curfew requirements as well as requirements to undertake psychological counselling or other treatment programs.”