John Fitzpatrick. About New China, the Koreas, Myanmar, Thailand, and also about Japanese and Chinese writers and poets. The main emphasis is on North Asia and the political tectonics of this very important, powerful, and many-peopled area.
Thursday 12 February 2015
Tony's at it again...the usual rubbish
Sydney terror raid: Robert Richter QC says statements by Tony Abbott could prejudice future trial of two accused men
A prominent Australian barrister says statements made by the Prime Minister about two men accused of a terror plot could prejudice a future trial.
Tony Abbott alleged in Parliament that one of the men arrested in Tuesday's terrorism raid in Sydney made a video threatening violence under an Islamic State (IS) flag.
He quoted detailed threats made by the man in the video, shown to the Prime Minister in a briefing this morning by the AFP and ASIO, that have not been aired in court.
Robert Richter QC accused Mr Abbott of using parliamentary privilege in an attempt to influence the judicial process "in a calculated political gambit".
Mr Richter said the statements might have a highly detrimental impact on the case.
"It's highly theoretical and the question depends entirely on what course the legal proceedings will take," told the ABC.
"For all I know there may be an application at some stage to stay proceedings on the basis that things were published which ought not to have been published which prejudiced a proper trial.
"I know that it's a long way down the track, but someone in a responsible position needs to be able to consider the fact that they should watch what they say, especially when, for a blatant political purpose, they are disclosing information that ought not at this stage be disclosed."
Mr Richter said if the statements had been made outside of Parliament, Mr Abbott would have been in contempt of court.
"To make those sorts of inflammatory utterances is calculated to influence the judicial process and it's being done for a political purpose," he said.
The Prime Minister's office has been contacted for comment.
The men were arrested during a raid on a converted garage in the back yard of a house in Fairfield in Sydney's west.
Police alleged that during the raid they found a machete, a hunting knife, an IS flag and a video with a recorded message in Arabic in which one of the men allegedly talked about carrying out an attack.
Mr Abbott said he had been briefed by Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin and ASIO Director-General Duncan Lewis about the attacks that had been prevented, saying the men had made a "pre-attack video".
"Kneeling before the death cult flag with a knife in his hand and a machete before him, one of those arrested said this: 'I swear to almighty Allah we will carry out the first operation for the soldiers of the caliphate in Australia.
"He went on to say, 'I swear to almighty Allah, blonde people, there is no room for blame between you and us. We only owe you, stabbing the kidneys and striking the necks'.
"I don't think it would be possible to witness uglier fanaticism than this - more monstrous fanaticism and extremism than this - and I regret to say it is now present in our country."
The two men will remain in custody for at least a month, after their lawyer told Sydney's Central Local Court he was withdrawing their bail application.
The Immigration Department is conducting an urgent review into the men's cases.
Al-Kutobi is a student who fled war-torn Iraq for Australia, and Kiad is a nurse who moved from Kuwait in 2012.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said one of the men was suspected of coming to Australia with false documentation.
Appearing on Channel Nine this morning, Mr Dutton was asked about reports that one of the men entered Australia illegally.
"The initial advice to me allegedly one of the suspects may have come to Australia with some false documentation," he said.
Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
"At that stage, bearing in mind it was in 2009... over that long period about 50,000 people came on 800 boats.
"It was a difficult time for our intelligence agencies."
Investigators have said it was unclear who the men were allegedly planning to kill, and have refused to confirm reports that a police officer was a target.
"The type of act that we will allege that was going to be undertaken is consistent with the messaging coming out of [Islamic State]," NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Catherine Burn said yesterday.
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