Cricketer’s brother fights to be freed from jail

The brother of Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja, jailed over a fake terror plot, is fighting to be freed from prison.

The brother of star cricketer Usman Khawaja, Arsalan, who was convicted over a fake terror plot, has taken his fight to be released from prison to the Federal Court.

Khawaja admitted attempting to frame two men for terror offences in 2017 and 2018 in an effort to sabotage their relationships with two women.

NSW District Court judge Robert Weber last year jailed Khawaja for four years and six months after he pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and dishonestly influencing a public official.

But with time served he was eligible to be released on parole on June 26 this year.

Ordinarily, parole decisions are made by the NSW State Parole Authority, however because Khawaja was sentenced for federal offences, the Federal Attorney-General has jurisdiction over the matter.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash denied Khawaja’s bid to be released, however his lawyers took the case to the Federal Court, arguing she got it wrong on several grounds including she inflated the seriousness of the offence and she did not take into account Mr Khawaja’s mental condition.

Arsalan Khawaja with his brother and Test cricketer Usman Khawaja. Picture: Supplied

The court heard on Monday the parties had been in negotiations and they were close to resolving it without it going to a contested hearing because the Attorney-General had agreed to reconsider her decision.

“There appears to be a concession that this was occasioned by jurisdictional error and it should be remitted back for consideration,” Khawaja’s solicitor, Bryan Wrench, told the court.

“I’ve spoken to Mr Khawaja late Friday and he appears to agree with that course.”

The matter was adjourned and it’s expected Ms Cash will review the decision.

A spokesperson for Ms Cash’s office declined to comment.

Kamer Nizamdeen was the target of Khawaja’s fake terror plot. Photo: Facebook

Khawaja was jailed after he admitted to forging false entries on a notepad belonging to University of NSW colleague Kamer Nizamdeen.

Mr Nizamdeen later described Khawaja’s actions as “heinous and devious” after he was forced to spend 28 days in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison.

He was eventually cleared and Khawaja was arrested, however he said the bizarre saga still affected his life and that he has moved back to his native Sri Lanka.

Among Khawaja’s fake manifesto were references to carrying out terrorist acts, jihad, recruiting for Islamic state and travelling to Sri Lanka for weapons training.

Shakeela Shahid was the source of Khawaja’s jealousy which spurred him on to hatch the fake terror plot. Picture: David Swift

Khawaja has said he wanted Mr Nizamdeen to be preoccupied with the accusations so he could get closer to Shakeela Shahid, a young woman who also worked at the University of NSW campus.

Khawaja was also sentenced for a similar offence in January 2017 when he called the Border Watch hotline to make a false complaint about a man, who can only be known as M1.

M1 had dated a woman, who can only be known as F1 for legal reasons, who Khawaja had previously been in a relationship with.

Khawaja told the operator that M1 had expressed extreme religious views and attended a training camp in Pakistan in 2017.

Weber described Khawaja’s actions as “unforgivable” but took into account he had been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder.