Accused IS terrorist charged with six offences, faces life sentence

Accused Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash faces life imprisonment after being charged in Melbourne with six terrorism offences.

Accused terrorist recruiter Neil Prakash is escorted by police after arriving in Darwin from Turkey. Picture: AFP

Accused Islamic State terrorist and leading global recruiter for the notorious jihadist group, Neil Prakash, has been charged with six terrorism offences after being deported home to face justice.

The Melbourne-born jihadist was charged on Sunday with six terrorism offences by the AFP Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team.

Prakash will appear in Melbourne Magistrate’s Court to face charges of engaging in hostile activity in a foreign state, engaging in hostile activity in a foreign country, being a member of a terrorist organisation, advocating terrorism, providing support to a terrorist organisation, and entering or remaining in a declared area.

The charges could see the 31-year-old jailed for life.

Prakash’s extradition to Victoria was approved on Friday, after he was deported to Darwin from Turkey and taken into custody by Australian Federal Police.

Prakash, a self-styled jihadist whose father is Fijian and his mother Cambodian, came on the radar of security agencies in 2014 after travelling to Syria the year before. He appeared in multiple IS propaganda videos and is understood to have groomed English-speaking recruits via social media. A warrant for his arrest was issued in 2016.

As foreshadowed by The Weekend Australian last week, Turkish authorities deported Prakash after six years spent in prison and immigration detention.

Neil Prakash is alleged to have committed a range of terrorism offences. Picture: AFP

Prakash, who spent five years in prison, was freed for about a week in November 2021 before being placed into immigration detention. After Australia’s formal extradition request was rejected by a Turkish Local Court in 2018, then home affairs minister Peter Dutton stripped Prakash of his citizenship for allegedly serving IS.

Australian authorities believed Prakash held foreign citizenship through his father, but were forced into a retreat after Fijian officials rejected the claim. Darwin Local Court heard on Friday Prakash was told his citizenship had been reinstated during meetings with Australian officials in recent weeks.

Law enforcement was committed to keeping Australians safe, AFP said in a statement. The Weekend Australian understood prior to charges being laid Prakash would not be released into the community.

“The AFP Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team has worked tirelessly on this investigation since March 2015 to ensure this man could be brought before the courts,” AFP Assistant Commissioner Sandra Booth said.

“The AFP and our partners are committed to keeping Australians safe.”

Victoria Police Counter Terrorism Assistant Commissioner Michael Hermans added: “The safety of the Victorian community is Victoria Police’s number one priority and we will continue to work with our partners to ensure this.”

In early 2015, Prakash emerged as a successor to slain former ­Sydney bouncer Mohammed Ali Baryalei as the leading Australian IS recruiter targeting radicalised youths.

He also had connections with a number of young extremists including teenager Numan Haider, who was shot dead after violently attacking two police officers in Melbourne, and Sevdet Besim, who plotted to behead a police ­officer in Melbourne on Anzac Day in 2015.