Convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika who plotted to bomb MCG has strict supervision extended
One of Australia’s most notorious convicted terrorists will remain under strict supervision in his Dallas home for at least two months following an Albanese government bid to keep him under extended watch.
Police & Courts
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One of Australia’s most notorious convicted terrorists will remain under strict supervision in the community for at least the next two months.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika was placed on a 12-month extended supervision order with strict conditions including to live in his family’s Dallas home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs and wear an electronic monitoring device on his release from prison in December last year.
He had spent 18 years behind bars for leading two terror cells that plotted bomb attacks on the MCG on Grand Final day and the Crown casino.
The Herald Sun revealed last week the Albanese government had applied to Victoria’s Supreme Court to keep Benbrika on an extended supervision order for another year.
As the case landed in court on Wednesday, Benbrika’s barrister Dan Star, KC, was critical of the Commonwealth filing for the extended order at the 11th hour.
He said while the attorney general was seeking orders that were less prohibitive on his client, they needed more time to determine if they would fight against it.
“(Benbrika) does not concede an order should be made,” Mr Star said.
But to give them time to prepare their case against the government’s application, he said his client would agree to an interim order, which can only be in place for 28 days, taking them to January 15.
“We aren’t happy about it, but Mr Benbrika will consent to a second interim supervision order at the appropriate time in January,” Mr Star said.
This would give them until February 12 to have the substantive case heard and determined.
Mr Star said his client complied with an order to undergo an assessment in September, and they are yet to receive the report from the government despite multiple requests.
No details were aired about why the government is seeking the order to be extended. They would have to prove to the court he remains a risk to the community.
The radical Muslim cleric was not in court for the administrative hearing.
Speaking exclusively to the Herald Sun in January, just weeks after he walked free from jail, Benbrika declared he was a changed man and that Australians should no longer be afraid of him.
He said he had learnt “a huge lesson”.
“People should know that Nacer (himself) is not what he was,” he said.
As part of the supervision order he has been required to adhere to 30 strict conditions including wearing an electronic monitoring device and submitting to a curfew between 10pm and 6am.
He has also had to take part in Commonwealth-paid psychological treatment and a deradicalisation program with a Sheikh from the International Centre for the Study of Violent Extremism.
The case will return before Justice James Elliott on December 18.
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