Lady Justice Podcast: Zali Burrows reveals Hamzy might know where Milat’s missing victims are buried

Criminal lawyer Zali Burrows has revealed Bassam Hamzy may hold the key to finding Ivan Milat’s missing victims. Listen to the podcast.

Gangland crime boss Bassam Hamzy knows the secret burial site of some of Ivan Milat’s missing victims, according to his defence lawyer Zali Burrows.

Hamzy, who is serving a 40 year sentence for crimes including murder, became a confidante of the serial killer while they were both locked up as “Extreme High Risk” inmates in Australia’s toughest jail, the Goulburn Super max.

Bassam Hamzy in Goulburn Supermax in May, 2017.

But in episode five of News Corp’s podcast Lady Justice, Ms Burrows explains “the relationship between New South Wales Police and Hamzy is quite toxic,” making a collaboration hard.

“If only they were nice to him, they would get some secrets out of him because I know that Ivan Milat confided in him. And I’m pretty sure Hamzy knows where the missing bodies are buried,” she said of her Brothers for Life gang founder client.

Convicted backpacker murderer confided in Bassam Hamzy.

Ms Burrows is a defence lawyer who has acted for a string of high-profile clients from sex bomb Madison Ashton to former super model Tziporah Malkah, and the flamboyant former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer.

She reveals some of the surprises of the job, such as appearing in a sharia court, and also the perils — the personal attacks she has been subjected to just because she is playing her part in our justice system.

“Let’s just say my life is like Space Invaders, every day you just don’t know what’s going to come at you,” she said.

“I just cannot predict what’s going to happen every day. I can’t even predict what’s going to happen by the end of the week … there’s always some type of last-minute drama, some type of urgency. But I can say, as a criminal defence lawyer, you have to expect to totally lose all privacy.”

In one of her extraordinary anecdotes, Ms Burrows reveals she had a police helicopter at her window – with a camera filming.

High profile defence lawyer Zali Burrows. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“Now I had a client who was suspected of terrorism in the office at that time, and it was quite high up in between two buildings on a Saturday. And I thought, Oh, maybe it’s just a drill. I thought it’s a bit dangerous being between two buildings.

“ … then the following Monday, the helicopter was at my window again filming and I had a client. He wasn’t suspected of terrorism or anything like. He wasn’t a criminal client, and he was amazed. He goes, ‘wow, this is like some Hollywood shit’,” she said.

“I just waved. I thought, Okay, all right, this is how it rolls. Because, you know, back then, in the days when the terrorism thing first started, I didn’t know what was to happen. I thought, Okay, well, maybe this is the new normal.”

Zali Burrows, lawyer with her client Madison Ashton. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ms Burrows also talks about the never-a-dull -moment life of Ms Ashton, a soft porn star and former mistress of the cardboard King Richard Pratt, including how she had her phones confiscated by police investigating the death of her then boyfriend’s wife.

“I say the police took her phone because her phone had hot naked shots of her, had the porn (on it), and whether you’re a hot blooded, male or female, they all wanted a piece of Madison,” she said.

Ms Burrow also had a case where she had to appear in a sharia court for an Australian woman accused of adultery.

“It was really, really weird. It was a very smoky room. There’s chairs around three sides of the court, all filled with men sitting there smoking. There’s someone coming around serving Lebanese coffee. The chief judge is sitting at a very fancy wood grain carpet desk. His associate standing right behind him, picking up fluff, massaging him a bit, doing whatever. I was the only woman in the court and I could see everyone’s probably looking at me like, what the … she doing here?”

Episode Five of Lady Justice is out now. Go to ladyjusticepodcast.com.au