A wanted man has been arrested on his return to Australia from Turkey following a NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) investigation into suspected terrorism offences.
\nThe 30-year-old former Sydney man, who was the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant in NSW, was arrested at Melbourne International Airport by members of the AFP International Counter Terrorism Investigations Response Team after arriving on a flight from Turkey about 4pm yesterday (Saturday 8 May 2021).
\nThe arrest warrant was sought by NSW JCTT \u2013 comprising the AFP, NSW Police Force (NSWPF), the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and the NSW Crime Commission \u2013 following an investigation into the man\u2019s alleged travel from Sydney to Turkey in 2013.
\nAuthorities will allege the man then travelled from Turkey to Syria, where he allegedly facilitated the travel of foreign terrorist fighters to support Islamic State (IS).
\nThe man will appear before Melbourne Magistrates\u2019 Court this morning via video link, where he will face a number of Commonwealth terrorism offences, including:
\n\u2022 One count of knowingly give support\/resources to a terrorist organisation, contrary to section 102.7(1) of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). This offence is punishable by a maximum term of 25 years\u2019 imprisonment.
\n\u2022 One count of engage in a hostile activity in a foreign state, contrary to section 6(1)(a) of the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act 1978 (Cth). This offence is punishable by a maximum term of 20 years\u2019 imprisonment.
\n\u2022 Three counts of provide support for another person to engage in a hostile activity in a foreign state, contrary to section 7(1)(e) of the Crimes (Foreign Incursions and Recruitment) Act 1978 (Cth). This offence is punishable by a maximum term of 10 years\u2019 imprisonment; and
\n\u2022 One count of entering, or remaining in, declared areas contrary to section 119.2 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth). This offence is punishable by a maximum term of 10 years\u2019 imprisonment.
\nThe man will undergo mandatory 14-day quarantine in Victorian corrections facilities before being extradited to NSW for the matter to be heard in a NSW court.
\nAustralian Federal Police Commander Counter Terrorism Operations Stephen Dametto said the return of the Sydney man demonstrates that Australian authorities will continue working with overseas counterparts to support the management of terrorist threats offshore.
\n\u201cAnyone who fights with, provides material support to, or associates with terrorist groups, is committing a serious crime and will be subject to the law,\u201d Commander Dametto said.
\n\u201cIt has been an offence since 1978 to engage in hostile activity in a foreign country, unless serving in, or with the armed forces of the government of a foreign country.
\n\u201cWe have a responsibility to prevent our citizens from contributing to violence and instability overseas. Our laws are aimed at discouraging Australians from fighting in overseas conflicts and endangering their lives.\u201d
\nNSWPF Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Commander, Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton, said this was another example of the strength of the partnerships and collaboration in the counter terrorism framework.
\n\u201cThe diligence and dedication of the NSW JCTT investigators was complemented by the significant work conducted by other colleagues both here and abroad, to achieve this result,\u201d Assistant Commissioner Walton said.
\n\u201cCounter terrorism investigations remain a priority in NSW, and any act or plan for an act that may impact on the safety of our community \u2013 regardless of when it occurred \u2013 will be acted on with the same tenacity.\u201d
\nThere is no current or impending threat to the community related to the operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A wanted man has been arrested on his return to Australia from Turkey following a NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) investigation into suspected terrorism offences. The 30-year-old former Sydney man, who was the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant in NSW, was arrested at Melbourne International Airport by members of the AFP International Counter … Continue reading “Australian man who allegedly recruited for Islamic State arrested on return from Turkey”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}