Bilal Khazal: Terrorist released from Goulburn Supermax

One of Australia’s most infamous terrorists is now a free man after completing a 12-year sentence for preparing a terrorist attack instructional manual.

One of Australia’s most notorious terrorists is now a free man after completing a 12-year sentence for preparing a terrorist attack instructional manual.

Bilal Khazal from Sydney’s southwest served nine years at Goulburn Supermax jail before being released from Silverwater Correctional Centre on Sunday.

Dubbed the ‘DIY Jihadi’, the former baggage handler was convicted in 2009 for creating a manual which instructed terrorists about the ways to fight infidels.

Bilal Khazal was sentenced to 12 years in jail for preparing a terrorist manual.

It discussed assassination methods, including remote detonation of a device, letters containing biological hazards and booby tapping a car with an explosive device.

He had previously worked for Qantas but stopped in 1999. After this he worked as an unpaid journalist named “Call to Islam”.

The Department of Home Affairs did not apply to the courts for a continued detention order to detain him beyond the end of his prison term.

A spokeswoman for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton confirmed the Australian Federal Police had instead applied for an interim control order for Khazal upon his release.

His manual contained advice on how to kill people, including by using a remote-controlled bomb.

Control orders are used to monitor and restrict the activities of convicted jihadis through methods such as electronic monitoring.

“An application for a continuing detention order was sought by the Minister for Home Affairs in relation to Mr Khazal, but legal thresholds were deemed not to have been met and the application had to be discontinued,’’ the spokeswoman said.

No applications have been made for terrorists to remain behind bars since the passage of the Criminal Code Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Act in 2016, with authorities consistently finding it too difficult to reach the high legal threshold required to hold someone in jail beyond the completion of their sentence.

In a court order handed down in April, details were revealed about Khazal’s behaviour inside jail.

Authorities running a deradicalisation program noted he continued to identify himself as a person of religious authority for the Islamic faith, and “holds a position of status, control and influence over others of the same faith, both in custody and in the community.’’

It was noted that he retained the title of Sheik, despite not having received extensive instruction in Islamic learning. “Mr Khazal’s lack of condemnation of al-Qaeda is also considered problematic,’’ authorities noted.

Authorities further noted that Khazal had issued “anti-Islamic State’’ edicts which had caused a split within the “extremist Islamic population’’ inside the high-risk management unit at the jail.

“Of particular interest is Mr Khazal’s fatwas (religious edicts) which he has issued/promulgated denouncing Islamic State as illegitimate…”

“It should however be noted that this shift is not from extremist Islam, but rather Mr Khazal has effectively convinced his fellow inmates to switch allegiance from Islamic State to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham without the need to express such views openly,’’ authorities noted.

As part of an unsuccessful bid for parole, Khazal wrote to authorities and told them he condemned and rejected “Al-Qaeda and all like organisations, their ideologies, teachings, and actions. I repudiate all supportive statements I have made about Al-Qaeda in the past.’’

“I reject the contents of the book that led to my conviction and now fully appreciate the possible consequences and danger of its contents,’’ he wrote.

He said he did not hold himself out to be a Sheik, and that some called him that out of respect for his culture.

Originally published as Bilal Khazal: Terrorist released from Goulburn Supermax