Judge agrees alleged underworld figure may have been deported illegally from Turkey
A NSW Supreme Court judge has ruled there is a prima facie case that alleged underworld figure Masood Zakaria was illegally deported.
An alleged Sydney underworld figure may have a case that he was illegally deported by Turkey while wanted over allegations he conspired to kill a member of the Hamze crime family, a judge has ruled.
Masood Zakaria, who was also charged with two counts of murder following his return to Australia, now wants a permanent stay on the charges he faces, which also include drug and proceeds of crime offences.
The 30-year-old’s upcoming double-murder trial has been vacated so he can make the permanent stay application, which, if successful, would result in Zakaria walking free.
In a written judgment, NSW Supreme Court judge Mark Ierace found Zakaria had a prima facie case that he had been kicked out of Turkey illegally but Australian authorities may not have known at the time about the illegality, if it was indeed proven to have been illegal.
Justice Ierace said the material that had been produced in the case so far “warrants further inquiries”.
Zakaria’s legal team will have to prove the Australian Federal Police knew Turkey acted illegally when he was handed over to armed private security guards and flown to Australia on a private plane paid for by the AFP.
The alleged Sydney gangster had left Australia illegally in December 2021, days before a warrant was issued for his arrest alleging he had conspired to kill Ibrahem Hamze.
He was arrested in Turkey in January 2023, along with others, including one of Australia’s most wanted men, dual national Hakan Ayik, who is now in a Turkish prison.
Zakaria, who also has an Afghan passport, was placed in detention and not charged with anything.
But upon his return to Australia, Zakaria was charged over the alleged conspiracy and, later, the alleged October 2021 murders of father and son Salim, 18, and Toufik Hamze, 64.
Recently, his legal team claimed in court he was kidnapped by mercenaries and brought back to Australia before his appeal against deportation was finished.
If proven, those actions would be an abuse of process.
Zakaria’s lawyers also will argue the AFP offered inducements to Turkey to have him deported.
“We need to value add to the table in order for the Turkiye to decide whether to deport them to a country of their own choice or Turkiye may decide to deport them back to Australia,’’ an AFP officer sent in an email the day after Zakaria’s arrest, without providing an explanation about what a “value add” would be”.
Zakaria’s lawyers have now asked for 52 weekly reports AFP officers in Turkey sent to superiors to update them on investigations. They also want access to 1300 pages of documents from the AFP and NSW Police.
Some emails and reports from the AFP have already come to light after The Daily Telegraph successfully challenged an interim suppression order.
The details released so far have put enormous scrutiny on the operations of the AFP overseas while also exposing the rift between the federal force and NSW Police.
Internal reports also said the AFP decided to keep the NSW Police in the dark until he was on the plane in case they leaked it and tried to get glory for his arrest and deportation back to Australia.
Further arguments are listed in the Supreme Court on October 2.
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Originally published as Judge agrees alleged underworld figure may have been deported illegally from Turkey
