SYDNEY – A Muslim cleric convicted of leading an Australian terror cell that plotted to kill thousands will have his detention extended by up to three years beyond his original sentence, a court ruled today.
Algerian-born Abdul Nacer Benbrika was sentenced to 15 years in jail in February 2009 for leading an organisation that was committed to violent jihad, and had discussed bomb and firearm attacks.
His jail term officially expired in November last year, but the Australian government applied to keep him behind bars for up to three additional years, under rarely used provisions aimed at high-risk convicted terrorists.
Benbrika lost his appeal against the “Continuing Detention Order” at the high court today, with the country’s top court ruling that the law is valid as it “is appropriately tailored to protecting the community from the singular threat posed by terrorist criminal activity”.
His lawyers argued that the federal government did not have the power to impose the order.
Benbrika and his followers were arrested in November 2005 after Australia strengthened laws to detain those in the early stages of planning terror acts, following the London transport bombings in July that year.
He was stripped of his Australian citizenship in late 2020, marking the first time a person still inside the country has had their citizenship revoked. – AFP, February 10, 2021
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