New jail unit to lock up Victoria’s highest-risk criminals
Terror svengali Nacer Benbrika is one of the high-risk criminals who is set to be held in a super-secure jail unit designed for Victoria’s highest-risk criminals nearing the end of their prison sentence.
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Terror svengali Nacer Benbrika is set to be held in a super-secure jail unit designed for Victoria’s highest-risk criminals.
The Herald Sun understands Benbrika is likely to be one of the first picked to go to the 10-bed Piper unit at maximum security Barwon Prison.
Corrections Minister Ben Carroll has opened the $21 million Piper unit, designed for high-level inmates being detained at the end of their court-imposed sentences.
Mr Carroll said the unit was part of reforms to manage the most serious offenders.
Its probable first inmates will be those detained under a federal scheme to lock up terrorist who have not renounced their radical views.
Uncertainty surrounds Benbrika as authorities wrestle with his expiring prison sentence. His maximum 15-year term over a plot to launch a terrorist attack that discussed bombing the MCG or Crown casino ends next year.
If he is able to avoid deportation, state and federal bodies want the Algerian-born terror plot leader detained for longer.
The Herald Sun understands Benbrika has refused to take deradicalisation programs during his stint behind bars.
Deep concerns remain about his influence on younger men in the community and their potential for jihad.
Other inmates expected to be sent to Piper are counter-terror targets, serial violent thugs, killers and sex offenders. The “Tinny Terrorist” group is also likely to be considered for detention at the Piper unit. Four of the six men — Kadir Kaya, Shayden Thorne, Antonio Granata and Paul Dacre — who plotted to sail from North Queensland to the Philippines to join extremist groups — have terms that expire in 2020 or 2021.
Murat Kaya, who was part of the initial planning for the voyage, has a term due to finish within six months.
Justice Michael Croucher said when sentencing ringleader Robert Cerantonio, whose full term ends in 2023, it would be “unjust” and counter-productive to lock him and his co-offenders up indefinitely.
The federal Home Affairs Minister can apply to the Supreme Court to order the continuing detention for anyone convicted of terrorism.
The state government has a separate scheme for violent or sex offenders deemed an ongoing risk to the community.
Post-sentence detention was a key plank in the 2015 Harper Review of Serious Offenders, launched after serial sex offender Sean Price murdered Masa Vukotic.