‘Tinnie terrorists’ will be released from prison in coming months
Four men convicted of terrorist offences after being intercepted trying to sail to the Philippines to overthrow the government will be released from jail.
VIC News
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Four of the “tinnie terrorists’’ will be released from a Victorian jail within weeks as authorities give no indication they will try to keep them behind bars.
The four men are among eight convicted terrorists due to be freed in Australia this year, including a man who will walk free in Brisbane on Friday.
A wave of Islamist terrorists completing their sentences in coming months has alarmed law enforcement and security agencies, who are deeply concerned about their capacity to monitor them if they are released on control orders.
The Morrison Government has given no indication it intends to seek continued detention orders for some, which would cage them for up to three years beyond the end of their sentences.
“Eligible offenders are assessed on a case-by-case basis on advice from law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies,’’ a government spokeswoman told the Herald Sun.
“It is not appropriate to comment on the details of individual cases.’’
The orders, which have never been used in Australia, set a high legal threshold and take months to prepare.
They include a detailed risk assessment of the inmate’s behaviour in jail.
Paul Dacre, Antonio Granata, Kadir Kaya and Shayden Thorne, four of the so-called “tinnie terrorists’’ who were intercepted towing a small boat to Queensland with the intention of sailing to the Philippines to overthrow the government, have almost completed their federal sentences after pleading guilty to foreign incursion crimes.
Dacre, Granata and Kaya were all refused parole by federal Attorney-General Christian Porter last year but are due to be released on May 8, when their four-year sentences end.
Thorne was jailed for three years and 10 months. He is due to be freed on March 7.
Kaya’s brother Murat Kaya was freed last month on a control order with 20 conditions.
He is one of five convicted terrorists who have been quietly released back into Australian society in the past year.
They include Moudasser Taleb, who had beheading videos on his phone when he was arrested at Sydney Airport trying to fly to Syria to join IS, and was released in June.
Muhammad Abdul-Karim Musleh was released on a recognisance order on August 12 after serving a year for helping others join the fight in Syria.
Amin Mohamed was released in July and deported to New Zealand after serving six years and six months for attempting to become a foreign fighter.
Parole was refused three times before his sentence expired.
Another person, known as EB, was freed on February 2 last year after serving two years and three months jail on terrorism offences. Parole was refused in July 2018.
The spotlight on convicted terrorists being released has sharpened after attacks in London were carried out by terrorists recently released from jail.
Two terrorists are due to be freed this year who are likely to be subjected to continued detention orders.
A 12-year sentence for Belal Saadallah Khazaal, an Osama bin Laden confidante and former Qantas baggage handler who prepared an online DIY manual for aspiring jihadis, expires in September.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika, the spiritual leader of Australia’s biggest terror plot, was convicted in 2005 over plans to attack the AFL grand final and the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor, among others.
His 15-year jail term ends in November.
On Friday, Queensland man Omar Succarieh, convicted on foreign incursion charges, is due for release when an unrelated state sentence expires.
A week later, Ahmad Naizmand, who admitted breaching a control order by watching jihadist videos, is also due for release.
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Mr Porter told Perth radio 6PR last week that the UK had showed people convicted of serious terrorism offences had shown “the propensity’’ to commit other terrorism offences after release.’’
“With people like Benbrika and others, I would argue that they are inherently dangerous individuals,’’ he said.