Sam Ibrahim’s bold bid to stay in Oz

Underworld figure Sam Ibrahim has made a bid to return to Sydney after the government’s attempt to kick him out of Australia, seizing on the High Court’s move to outlaw indefinite detention.

Exclusive: Underworld figure Sam Ibrahim has made a bid to return to Sydney after the government’s attempt to kick him out of Australia, seizing on the High Court’s move to outlaw indefinite detention.

Ibrahim, the older brother of Kings Cross identity John Ibrahim, has been held in a Perth detention centre since October 2020 after the federal government attempted to deport him to Lebanon on character grounds thanks to his jailing over a gun and drug supply ring.

The 55-year-old, who was once among the most influential organised crime figures in NSW, is now trying to fight his way back to Sydney after the High Court ruled on November 8 that the practice of holding people in indefinite detention was illegal.

The decision resulted in the immediate release of 80 people — including a hitman facing death row in Malaysia — and forced the shell-shocked government to pass emergency legislation to address concerns about how the community would be protected.

There are reportedly 92 more people eligible for release and experts say 300 more cases could also be affected when the court releases the reasons for the decision.

Sam Ibrahim at his Sister’s Sydney home.

Sam Ibrahim outside Mount Druitt.

The former high ranking Nomads bikie — who recently expressed his anger at how he was portrayed in the fictionalised TV show about John’s rise to power in the Kings Cross nightclub game — claims he falls into the category of people who are eligible for immediate release.

This week, Ibrahim’s lawyer William Levingstone wrote two emails to the federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles demanding his client be released following the court’s decision.

One of the emails pointed out that Ibrahim’s continuing detention is now “unlawful” while the other requested the government to “please make efforts to release my client immediately”.

Fadi (centre) and Sam Ibrahim (right) being escorted to the gate by a guard at the Long Bay Correctional Complex in Sydney.

“I just hope common sense prevails,” Ibrahim told The Saturday Telegraph.

“I’ve been sitting here for three years — it’s like serving another sentence. How long do they plan on keeping me here for? Forever?”

If released, Ibrahim said: “I’d go back to Sydney and live with the wife and kids.”

But he added he was prepared to abide by whatever restrictions were placed on his by the authorities.

Sam Ibrahim in the custody of Strike Force Raptor.

Sam Ibrahim outside Parramatta Court.

“I have to go where they say I can go,” he said. “So if it’s wearing (an ankle) bracelet or living in a certain area — that’s up to them.”

When contacted about Ibrahim’s situation, a spokeswoman for Mr Giles said the government “does not comment on individual cases”.

Ibrahim was born in Lebanon but was brought to Australia as an 11-year-old in 1976.

He had already started legal action against his deportation and claimed his mother, Wahiba, included Sam and his siblings on her immigration documents.

The government claimed he was never an Australian citizen and cancelled his visa on character grounds in 2015 after he was arrested over a gun and drug ring a year earlier.

In 2018, Ibrahim was sentenced to a nine-year term.

When he was paroled in 2020, the government moved to deport him to Lebanon and shipped him to a Perth detention centre where he has been ever since.