‘ISIS member’ faces full glare of justice

Radwan Dakkak might be facing a decade in jail, but the ­alleged IS member was all smiles in court.

Radwan Dakkak is driven to Bankstown Local Court in a prison van yesterday. Picture: Dylan Robinson.

Radwan Dakkak might be facing a decade behind bars, but the ­alleged Islamic State member was all smiles when he fronted court yesterday.

Mr Dakkak, 23, was one of three men charged in the wake of the counter-terrorism operation across six western Sydney suburbs in the early hours of Tuesday. Mr Dakkak appeared in Bankstown Local Court yesterday, wearing a prison-issued green jumpsuit and smiling to supporters in the public gallery as his case was briefly mentioned. He was charged with being a member of Islamic State.

According to court documents, he knowingly joined the terror group last ­December and police claim he was “prominent in the global online extremist com­munity”.

Yesterday, dozens of police ­returned to his home in Toongabbie, where they carried out further ­inspections of his home and spoke to neighbours.

Today, Mr Dakkak’s co-­accused, Isaac El Matari — who is alleged to have made “early-stage” preparations to attack landmarks across Sydney — will front court in Parramatta. It will be ­alleged the 20-year-old was the ringleader of the terror cell, and was preparing to travel to Afghanistan to fight with Islamic State.

Australian Federal Police officers, including a forensic team, assemble at the Toongabbie house yesterday. Picture: John Grainger

Police will allege that Mr Matari was planning to carry out ­terror attacks at police stations, defence establishments, consulates, councils, courts and ­churches in Sydney’s CBD.

They will also allege he ­obtained visas and purchased plane tickets in preparation to fight for Islamice State in Afghanistan. If convicted, he faces life ­behind bars.

The third man arrested in Tuesday’s raids, Ahmed Tebya — an associate of Mr Dakkak and ­Mr Matari — was yesterday charged with obtaining a financial benefit by deception, namely fraudulently claiming commonwealth unemployment benefits.

The 30-year-old batted away a camera crew as he left his Chester Hill home for the first time since being released on strict conditional bail. His mother was seen looking at news of the terror raids in a newspaper at her Auburn unit in Sydney’s west.

Mr Tebya has not been charged with any terrorism offences.

Mother of Ahmed Tebya at her unit in Auburn. Picture: John Grainger

AFP assistant commissioner Ian McCartney said Mr Matari had been monitored for the past 12 months after he returned to Australia from Lebanon, where he was known to authorities. He was involved in a police mentoring program at the University of Western Sydney to help assimilate him back into the community.

It will be alleged that Mr Matari, from Greenacre, had discussions about importing firearms and explosives to carry out the attacks, but hadn’t selected a specific target or time. His mentor at UWS, Michael Kennedy, a former police officer, described the 20-year-old as “articulate” and “well read”.

Additional reporting: AAP