Here is a quick round-up of Australian terrorism-related news over the past month or so:
- Yesterday five people were sentenced in the New South Wales Supreme Court over a terror plot which targeted police officers in late 2014. All five (Sulayman Khalid, Jibryl Almaouie, Mohamed Almaouie, Farhad Said and an unidentified juvenile) had pleaded guilty, either to the conspiracy itself or to related offences such as making documents or sourcing firearms. You can read their sentencing here.
- One of their co-conspirators, Ibrahim Ghazzawy, had pleaded guilty earlier and been sentenced on 8 May 2017. Read his sentencing here.
- Another man in Sydney, Tamim Khaja, pleaded guilty to planning a terror attack, with potential targets including Parramatta Court.
- By my count, this means that of thirteen alleged terror plots foiled in Australia since September 2014, six have now resulted in guilty pleas.
- An Australian teenager has been arrested in Lebanon, suspected of trying to join Islamic State.
- The US extradition of suspected Islamic State support Mirsad Kandic has revealed new information about the recruitment of Melbourne teenager and suicide bomber Jake Bilardi. See Kandic’s indictment and detention memo.
- Someone in Melbourne was recently unsuccessful when trying to challenge ASIO’s cancellation of their passport.
- Imprisoned terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika, leader of the Pendennis cells, had his parole denied (paywall).
- The latest Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) annual report is out. One odd thing is that it doesn’t mention how many passports ASIO have cancelled over the last financial year, unlike almost every other ASIO annual report.
- The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) annual report is also out.
- The Independent National Security Legislation Monitor (INSLM) has three new reports out, all as part of its Statutory Deadline Reviews. These cover:
- ASIO Director-General Duncan Lewis testified at Senate Estimates.
The Murphy Raid 