Terrorist links not enough to restrict Sydney man Ali Haidar

A bid to have a Sydney man declared a ‘high-risk ­offender’ failed because Hezbollah has not been declared a terror group.

A Facebook photo of Sydney man Ali Haidar, 30. Picture: Facebook

A prosecutor’s bid to have a Sydney man with a violent criminal history declared a “high-risk terrorist ­offender” failed because the Australian government had not ­declared Hezbollah and one of its allies as terror groups.

The NSW government wanted to place Ali ­Haidar under an extended supervision order because of his violent crimes and purported support for Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal party in Lebanon.

The order could have seen Haidar subjected to electronic monitoring, restrictions on who he could associate with and having him barred from attending certain locations.

The 30-year-old, who starred as an actor in the 2009 Australian film The Combination about crime gangs in western Sydney, had posted a series of photos of himself holding assault rifles, handguns and Amal party materials and clothing.

Among other evidence produced in the NSW Supreme Court earlier this month were his tattoos and comments he had made about Hezbollah and the Amal party to police and on ­social media.

Hezbollah is not a declared terrorist organisation in Australia. Only its “external security ­organisation” has been listed as a terror group.

A member of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security said on Sunday night there was ­“bipartisan support within the PJCIS for Hezbollah to be listed as a terrorist organisation”.

The committee’s members include chairman Andrew Hastie, deputy chairman Anthony Byrne, Eric Abetz, Mark Dreyfus, David Fawcett, Mike Kelly, Kristina Keneally, Julian Leeser, Jenny McAllister, Amanda Stoker and Tim Wilson.

Judge David Davies said in his judgment there would need to be “strong evidence” for a court to reach a different conclusion about whether Hezbollah was a terrorist group.

“The commonwealth accepts that Hezbollah maintains a militia and that it had deployed forces in Syria to assist the Syrian regime,” Justice Davies said when handing down his judgment. “Notwithstanding, the commonwealth did not list Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation.

“In my opinion, it would introduce confusion into the area of anti-terrorism if the court were to reach a different conclusion. It follows also that Amal, which is at one remove, is also not an organisation that supports terrorist acts or violent ­extremism.”

Barrister Gail Furness SC for the state of NSW had earlier told the court the concerns of authorities were serious. “It should not be dismissed as fantasy. He has a history of violent ­offending and access to weapons.”

Haidar’s barrister, Matthew Johnson SC, said none of the statements endorsed violent extremism and Haidar had expressed support for a political organisation, not a terrorist group.

Justice Davies said Haidar had “a lengthy history of violent ­offending” that included charges for aggravated robbery, assaulting or resisting officers, affray, possession of unauthorised firearms and weapons, stalking or intimidation, drug possession and supply and domestic violence.

On September 17, 2017, he posted two photos of himself holding an assault rifle while wearing military fatigues and a cap bearing Amal’s logo.

The photos appear to have been taken outside Australia.

Hours later, he wrote in a post “Guns guns guns … f..k the FPO” — an apparent reference to a firearms prevention order. In January 2018, while on a bond for possessing a knife without a permit and subject to an FPO, he was charged with possessing a prohibited firearm and other offences. He was later jailed and released on parole last April.

The court heard one of his tattoos depicts an “unknown ­entity holding a pistol to a police officer’s head”. He appeared to have the Amal party logo tattooed on his left bicep.

Justice Davies also said that despite his criminal history, there was little to suggest a terrorist ­motivation. “There was no evidence that any of the violence was done with the intention of ­advancing a political, religious or ideological cause,” he said.