Terror trio set to fight bail refusal

THREE men accused of planning to attack the Holsworthy army base will appeal against a decision by a magistrate to refuse them bail.

THREE men accused of planning to attack the Holsworthy army base will appeal against a decision by a magistrate to refuse them bail.

Lawyers for Saney Edow Aweys, Nayef El Sayed and Yacub Khayre said they planned to go to the Victorian Supreme Court to reapply for bail after magistrate Peter Reardon yesterday found they had not demonstrated the exceptional circumstances required to be released.

Mr Reardon expressed concerns about the conditions in which the men were being held in the high-security Acacia Unit in Victoria's Barwon prison, where they were being kept with some of the state's most notorious convicted criminals and spent up to 18 hours a day locked in their cells.

He said people who were charged with crimes were presumed innocent until proven guilty and should be kept in as "humane" conditions as possible.

"The present conditions ... are not desirable for men awaiting trial," Mr Reardon said. "It's not what ordinary people would expect."

But Mr Reardon said this alone did not amount to exceptional circumstances, which the lawyers for the three men had to prove in order for them to be allowed out on bail on terrorism charges.

The magistrate also rejected the argument put forward by defence counsel that the prosecution case against the accused men, which consisted of a summary read out to the court, was vague and ambiguous.

"I am not persuaded by each applicant that the crown case is a weak one," Mr Reardon said. "It might be well argued that the crown case is the opposite of weak at this stage."

Mr Reardon acknowledged there would be substantial delays in the case and the accused men would not be put on trial for another two years.

Mr Aweys, Mr El Sayed and Mr Khayre were charged with conspiring to plan a terrorist attack on Sydney's Holsworthy base earlier this month after being arrested in dawn raids at 19 properties around Victoria. Mr Aweys also faces charges of preparing to go to Somalia to engage in conflict and helping another man travel there to fight in the civil war.

Two other men, Abdirahman Mohamud Ahmed and Wissam Mahmoud Fattal, have been charged over the terror plot but have not so far applied for bail.

Prosecutor Nick Robinson argued during the four-day bail hearing that the three men should not be released because they had a "propensity to violence" and they were committed to a terrorist ideology.

Outside court, Rob Stary, acting for Mr Aweys, accused prosecutors of "crying wolf", saying the evidence they had against his client fell significantly short of the allegations they made. He also said the three men were being held in horrendous conditions at Barwon prison while awaiting trial.

"They are unconvicted, innocent people," Mr Stary said. "They are Guantanamo Bay-like conditions ... how can a person properly instruct their lawyers, how can they get a fair trial in these circumstances? (They are) supposed to have a presumption of innocence. Well, in these cases there's a presumption of guilt."

Mr Stary also confirmed the men would be appealing against the decision to the Supreme Court.

The four-day bail hearing was consistently packed with family and supporters of the accused men, some of whom initially refused to stand for Mr Reardon as he left and entered the courtroom.

This led to the magistrate warning the public gallery that he would instruct security officers to remove anyone who did not adhere to this court tradition. He also revealed that he had received hate mail from a purported Sydney Muslim cleric over previous comments he made about some of the defendants not standing during an earlier court hearing.

The men are due back in court in October.