High-risk ‘tinnie terrorist’ Murat Kaya goes free
The first of the ‘tinnie terrorists’ will walk free from jail despite being declared an ‘ongoing risk’.
The first of the “tinnie terrorists” will walk free from jail on Thursday after fewer than four years in custody despite a judge finding that there is an ongoing risk of him committing a terrorist act in Australia or overseas.
Melbourne man Murat Kaya was sentenced to three years and eight months’ imprisonment last February, despite the terror-related crime carrying a maximum life sentence, having pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of hostile activities.
Kaya, who has been behind bars since 2016, was refused parole and leaves prison having served his entire sentence.
His freedom comes after the Minister for Home Affairs opted against applying for a continuing detention order on the advice of law enforcement agencies.
Federal Court judge Paul Anastassiou on Wednesday handed down an interim control order with 20 conditions, noting his concern that Kaya presented an ongoing risk of “committing, supporting or facilitating” a terrorist act in Australia or overseas or committing, supporting or facilitating engagement in a hostile activity in a foreign country.
In his ruling, Justice Anastassiou said Kaya: “has continued whilst in custody to espouse extremist ideology, including violence, contempt towards non-Muslims and Australian law”.
While in custody, Kaya wrote to his brother referring to his incarceration as “nothing but a test from Allah’’.
Justice Anastassiou said the statement was “indicative of someone who does not accept responsibility, but merely sees his incarceration as oppression by non-believers”.
Under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, the government can apply to keep terrorists in prison for up to three years after their sentence has expired.
The Australian understands Kaya’s eligibility for a continuing detention order was assessed by the federal police and security intelligence but he was considered more suitable for an interim control order.
Kaya was part of a plot with Robert “Musa” Cerantonio, Paul James Dacre, Antonio Alfio Granata, Shayden Jamil Thorne and his brother Kadir Kaya to sail from Cape York in a small fishing boat to help overthrow the government of The Philippines and install sharia law.
In sentencing, Supreme Court judge Michael Croucher said Kaya had good prospects of rehabilitation despite not formally renouncing extremist beliefs.
His release conditions include a curfew between midnight and 6am and reporting to a police station twice a week. There are also exclusion zones around airports and ports and he is prohibited from leaving Australia.
Kaya is not allowed to possess more than four litres of petrol, or a knife in a public place without a reasonable excuse. He is also prohibited from communicating with anyone in Iraq, Syria or The Philippines and only permitted to contact certain people in Turkey.
There are also restrictions around 36 digital platforms including Facebook, Viber, FaceTime, Telegram and Twitter.
Kaya is prohibited from accessing material depicting or describing executions, beheadings, suicide attacks, bombings, terrorist attacks or terrorist propaganda unless published by the media or shown on TV or in the cinema.
He cannot drive, purchase or rent a vehicle weighing in excess of 4.5 tonnes.
Prior to his 2016 arrest, Kaya had posted on Facebook that dispensing justice sometimes required “violence” and that when people said “Islam means peace, they are lying’’.
He also said the Australian government is “taghut”, which translates as “tyrant ruler”.
In March 2018, handwritten notes were found in his prison cell. “The notes say that he will not be ‘heard coming’ as he is a ‘silent assassin’, and he also speaks about killing children in their sleep,” Justice Anastassiou said.
He said Kaya had also written to convicted terrorist Hamza Abbas, who is serving 22 years for a plot to kill people in Federation Square around Christmas.
Justice Anastassiou said the interim control orders were necessary to reduce the risk of a terror attack.