IS suspect Neil Prakash returns to face justice

Accused Islamic State terrorist and leading global recruiter for the notorious jihadist group in Syria will be charged with six serious terrorism offences.

Accused terrorism recruiter Neil Prakash is escorted by police officers after arriving at Darwin Airport from Turkey on Friday. Picture: AFP

Accused Islamic State terrorist and leading global recruiter for the notorious jihadist group in Syria, Neil Prakash, will be charged with six serious terrorism offences in Melbourne on Monday after his deportation from Turkey.

The Melbourne-born jihadist was taken into custody by the Australian Federal Police after arriving in Darwin on Friday and faces terrorism charges that could result in him being jailed for life.

The 31-year-old – whose IS nom de guerre was Abu Khalid al Cambodi – appeared before the Darwin Local Court on Friday via video-link where Chief Judge ­Elizabeth Morris approved extradition orders returning Prakash to Victoria.

The AFP-Victorian joint counter terrorism team is expected to bring six charges against Prakash on Monday in relation to alleged offences conducted between 2014 and 2016.

The court heard that Prakash, who appeared in handcuffs from the Palmerston watch house, is accused of multiple offences including being a member of IS and entering a foreign country to engage in hostile activities.

Prakash on Friday. Picture: AFP

After having his citizenship stripped by the Morrison government in 2018, the court heard that Prakash was told his citizenship had been reinstated during meetings with Australian officials in ­recent weeks.

Prakash, a self-styled jihadist whose father was Fijian and mother Cambodian, came on the radar of security agencies in 2014 after travelling to Syria the year before.

The small-statured, bearded ­Islamic convert, who wore a black cap backwards when he was taken into custody by AFP officers, appeared in multiple IS propaganda videos and is understood to have groomed English-speaking recruits via social media accounts.

As foreshadowed by The Weekend Australian last week, Turkish authorities deported Prakash from the country after six years spent in prisons and immigration detention. Prakash, who spent five years in prison, was freed for about a week in November 2021 before being placed into immigration detention. After Australia’s formal extradition request was rejected by a Turkish Local Court in 2018, then-home affairs minister Peter Dutton stripped Prakash of his citizenship for allegedly serving IS.

Australian authorities believed Prakash held foreign citizenship through his father but were forced into a retreat after Fijian officials rejected the claim.

In addition to federal security agencies pursuing Prakash, the US, Britain and Israel have previously expressed interest in questioning the former IS mouthpiece.

The AFP in 2015 issued an arrest warrant for Prakash. Picture: AFP

The AFP in 2015 issued an arrest warrant for Prakash in relation to charges associated with him being a member of a terrorist organisation and for incursions into a foreign state with the ­intention of engaging in hostile ­activities.

The Weekend Australian understands Prakash will not be in the community and will remain in custody until he is charged by the AFP-Victorian joint counter-terrorism team.

“There is no threat to the Australian community. An investigation started in 2016 when the man was alleged to have travelled to Syria to fight with Islamic State. The AFP will allege in court that the man committed a range of serious terrorism offences,” an AFP statement read.

“The AFP and joint counter-terrorism teams across the country maintain a thorough and comprehensive framework to manage the return of Australians facing terrorism offences.”

In early 2015, Prakash emerged as a successor to slain former ­Sydney bouncer Mohammed Ali Baryalei as the leading Australian IS recruiter targeting radicalised youths. He also had connections with a number of young extremists including teenager Numan Haider, who was shot dead after violently attacking two police officers in Melbourne, and Sevdet Besim, who plotted to behead a police ­officer in Melbourne on Anzac Day in 2015.