Ahmed Elomar watched National Geographic documentary not terror propaganda

Ahmed Elomar, the brother of slain Islamic State terrorist Mohamed, was charged with allegedly breaching orders not to watch terrorist propaganda — only for a court to hear he viewed an award-winning National Geographic documentary instead.

When Ahmed Elomar’s internet history was deleted from his phone, police charged him on suspicion he was covering up evidence that he had watched terrorist propaganda.

But the Sydney District Court heard he had actually viewed an award-winning National Geographic documentary that took an anti-terror stance.

Elomar, the brother of slain Islamic State terrorist Mohamed, was found not guilty of 10 charges relating to the alleged breaching of his Extended Supervision Order (ESO) in the Sydney District Court on Tuesday.

The former boxer had been ordered by the NSW Supreme Court to abide by the ESO conditions since being released from prison in 2016. He had served three years for bashing police with a flag pole during the 2012 Hyde Park Riots.

The conditions included he was not allowed to use phones and apps or delete his internet history without pre-approval from authorities.

Ahmed Elomar faced court for allegedly breaching his Extended Supervision Order. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

Police charged Elomar after he allegedly breached these orders.

One charge related to the deleting of internet history with authorities concerned that he had been watching ISIS propaganda videos.

But the District Court heard this week the documentary Hell On Earth: The Fall Of Syria And Rise Of ISIS was not terror propaganda and was actually critical of the terrorist organisation.

The 2017 documentary by filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested explores the rise of ISIS in Syria and called the development a “catastrophe”.

During cross-examination, Elomar’s barrister Greg James QC had one of the police from the case go through the list of what his client had deleted from his phone.

“You understand that … is a National Geographic award-winning documentary,” Mr James asked.

The officer replied: “Yes. Once I Googled it, I did understand that.”

It was revealed Elomar watched the National Geographic documentary called Hell On Earth: The Fall Of Syria And Rise Of ISIS. Picture: Supplied

Another of the items deleted included a YouTube clip featuring boxing highlights from a video titled Nonito Donaire vs. Jorge Arce.

In an earlier bail application for Elomar, his solicitor Abdul Reslan told the court his client was actually watching anti-ISIS material as part of his rehabilitation and that the data had not actually been deleted from the phone.

This became a major issue at the trial in front of Judge Nicole Noman, who heard the case without a jury.

Judge Noman dismissed the charge relating to the documentary after the Crown could not identify the date when the internet history had been deleted from the phone or if it had actually been deleted at all.

The date issue was problematic for the Crown because there was evidence that other people had used Elomar’s phone and they may have attempted to delete his internet history.

Elomar, who has cared from and trained horses since leaving prison, was also charged with the unauthorised use of phones and messaging apps to purchase five horses in 2018.

However the judge dismissed these charges after finding that Elomar had been given conflicting directions from separate police officers about what he could and could not use a phone for.