Australian Islamist cleric in maximum security with al-Qai’da’s worst

The spiritual head of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia has been moved to a solitary-confinement maximum-security prison in Jordan.

Ismail Al-Wahwah speaking in Lakemba, Sydney.

The spiritual head of Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia, Ismail Al-Wahwah, has been moved to a solitary-confinement maximum-security prison in Jordan, a facility known for holding hardened al-Qa’ida terrorists.

The arrest of Mr Al-Wahwah more than three months ago triggered a rolling campaign for his release, with hundreds of his supporters taking to the streets in Lakemba in Sydney’s southwest.

Last month he was transferred to Jordan’s notorious Al Muwaqqar II prison, a move his son said was akin to “psychological torture’’.

“Jordan’s track record in human rights abuse is well known and prison conditions are terrible,” Anas Al-Wahwah told The Australian.

Hi father, a dual Australian-Jordanian citizen, was arrested on arrival in Amman on July 25 by Jordanian intelligence services, having flown to the capital to visit family.

His lawyer, Musa Al-Abdallat, said his client was arrested on charges of incitement against the regime and that he was “merely sharing some material as it relates to the resumption of the Islamic life and the establishment of the caliphate”.

Anas Al-Wahwah told The Australian his father’s arrest was over Facebook posts the 61-year-old had made that were critical of Jordan’s royal family.

The Australian understands that the senior cleric’s Facebook account has since been deactivated.

Wassim Doureihi, Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia spokesman, addresses 400 protesters in Lakemba calling for the release of Ismail Al-Wahwah, last Friday.

Mr Al-Wahwah is a preacher and spokesman for controversial Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has called for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate.

He has pushed the limits of free speech in Australia, saying the world “deserves’’ an Islamic caliphate and calling for a jihad against Jews on the streets of Sydney.

His arrest has prompted protests in Canberra as well as Sydney.

About 400 people attended a rally in Lakemba on September 2 where supporters held up signs in Arabic that read “We are all Ismail Al-Wahwah”.

Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Wassim Doureihi addressed the crowd as protesters called for Mr Al-Wahwah’s release on the grounds of ill health and the harsh conditions he has been subjected to in Jordan.

Anas Al-Wahwah also sent a letter to then foreign minister Julie Bishop shortly after his father’s arrest.

A change.org petition calling for his release, set up by his son, has more than 6500 signatures.

Further protests have taken place outside the Jordanian embassy in Canberra, as well as at a Jordanian consular day in Sydney and in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Jordanian embassy did not respond to The Australian’s request for comment.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was “providing consular assistance to an Australian citizen detained in Jordan and to his family”.

Mr Al-Wahwah’s speeches in Australia raised concerns from community groups that the Islamist leader was inciting violence.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott accused Hizb ut-Tahrir of spreading “extremism in our suburbs” and in 2015 announced he was exploring a possible ban on the group.

NSW Liberal MP Gareth Ward has called for the group to be banned.