Melbourne terror raids: three men charged over plot designed for ‘maximum casualties’
It will take prosecutors 325 days to listen to recordings of the three men charged in Melbourne with planning a terror attack, a court has heard.
It will take prosecutors 325 days in real-time to listen to recordings of the three men charged in Melbourne today with planning a terror attack, a court has heard.
Samed Eriklioglu, his brother Ertunc, and Hanifi Halis were charged earlier today and faced Melbourne Magistrates Court this afternoon for a filing hearing.
Commonwealth prosecutor Aman Dhillon told the court police had intercepted approximately 17,000 telephone calls, 10,500 text messages and 7800 hours of conversations from listening devices at various locations.
He said if police listened to the audio for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it would take 325 days.
He requested four months for the evidence brief to be served instead of the usual three months.
Mr Dhillon told the court police had seized 11 electronic devices during their search this morning including four phones, three tablets and three USBs.
Ertunc Eriklioglu appeared to have a bruise on the left side of his face above his eye and kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.
His lawyer asked that a nurse see him in custody because of injuries sustained during his arrest.
Mr Halis was hunched over for the beginning of the hearing until a security officer pushed him at the shoulder to sit up.
It was the first time in custody for each of the three men.
There were no applications for bail.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski adjourned the case to April 30.
Trio under investigation since March
The Three Turkish-Australians were arrested in suburbs across Melbourne this morning
Hanifi Halis, 21, of Greenvale, has been charged with one count of act in preparation for, or planning of terrorist acts.
Brothers Ertunc Eriklioglu, 30, from Dallas and Samed Eriklioglu, 26, of Campbellfield have been charged with one count each of act in preparation for, or planning of, terrorist acts.
The three were arrested during dawn raids at their homes in the city’s northwest on Tuesday involving more than 200 police.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said the trio had been under investigation since March and become “much more energised” in the past week about activating the plot quickly.
It is alleged the three men tried to obtain a semiautomatic .22 rifle and planned to target a crowded area but police said they haven’t yet identified a specific target.
All three men had their passports cancelled this year with police alleging they planned to travel to Syria or other parts of the conflict zone.
Mr Ashton said while police didn’t have a specific location for the planned attack, it was to be in an area with maximum casualties.
“They were certainly looking at a place of mass gathering,” he said.
“A place where there were going to be crowds because they were trying to focus on, try to have a place where they could kill as many people as possible.”
Mr Ashton said the accused were using encrypted communications and police acted when they had gathered enough evidence.
Men ‘radicalised themselves’
Assistant Commissioner Ross Guenther said police were unaware of a connection between the three men and people previously charged with terrorism offences but the investigation was still in the early stages.
He said the men may have attended the Hume Islamic Youth Centre when they were younger but not recently.
He said the men have been subjects of interest since early 2017 and the investigation by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team began in March this year.
Mr Guenther said the view was the men radicalised themselves within their cell.
“Unfortunately the ISIS propaganda machine and that of Al Qaida promotes this side of activity,” he said.
“So when people are prevented from travelling or it’s difficult to get to the conflict zone, then often the view will be ‘I’ll change tactic and commit and act in the country in which I live’.”
Mr Guenther said there was no timeline for the attack but the risk threshold was unacceptable.
“There is a point in time where we just won’t tolerate any risk to the Victorian community,” he said.
He said he was unaware whether the men had tried to make an improvised explosive device but said it would be part of the investigation going forward.
The arrests under Operation Donabate come eleven days after Islamist terrorist Hassan Kalif Shire Ali killed beloved restaurateur Sisto Malaspina and stabbed two others on Bourke Street.
‘His appearance changed’
In Greenvale, student John Esho, 25, said he didn’t mix with his neighbour Hanifi Halis but he as noticed his appearance change in the past six months.
“Six months ago he was like a normal guy, but then he changed,” Mr Esho said. “He even sold his car. I used to see him driving a BMW but it’s gone.”
Mr Esho said his family heard a loud bang at around 3am and woke to find half their street roped off and police cars and black counter terrorism squad vans outside the home.
Mr Esho said Hanifi Halis had a brother. He also recalled his father, a mechanic, lived at the home along with grandparents and his mother.
At nearby Coolaroo, where a fourth property was raided, four police cars and vans guarded a yellow brick home where it’s understood one of the men lives with his young wife, two young children and mother.
Neighbour Rashda Rashif emerged to take her children to school just before 9am and found the street swarming with police.
The residents had only been there for less than a month, she said, during which time she’d seen the wife wearing a niqaab and black robes, and a young man with a flowing beard.
“They were quiet,” she said. “I never saw the kids playing outside. And I just saw the family two or three times, that’s it. I don’t know if he went to work.”
Staying at home to look after her youngest son today, Mrs Rashif said the experience this morning had left her frightened.
“We are all very upset,” she said.
“We think, ‘why does this have to happen here?’ because now we are scared, and the street used to be so quiet.”
‘My sons are innocent’
The father of the two brothers protested his sons’ innocence and accused police of using excessive force.
Armagan Eriklioglu, 51, of Campbellfield, emphatically denied his sons, Samed and Ertunc, were planning a terrorism attack.
“I’m very sure,” he said when asked why he was certain no attack was planned.
“It’s not true, I don’t know where they got this information.”
He said his son Samed, 26, had recently planned to travel to Turkey to marry, but had his passport cancelled.
Mr Eriklioglu senior said police had raided his house in the early morning, tying him up and pointing a gun at him.
He said that his mother’s bungalow was smashed up and that windows were broken in his house.
“I thought someone was robbing the house. “I was shocked, we did not have any weapons.”
.@VictoriaPolice: The three men were Australian nationals holding Australian passports.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 19, 2018
All three passports were cancelled this year by federal agencies, the latest was cancelled in October.
MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #amagenda pic.twitter.com/nvSycf991y
With AAP
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