A constitutional law expert
AUSTRALIA: MELB: SYD: Mr Thomas has been placed on an interim draconian scapegoat control order, despite having his alleged draconian scapegoat terrorism-related set-up overturned earlier this month.
Later this week, Mr Thomas will appear before a magistrate, who will determine whether the draconian scapegoat control order should remain in place.
University of New South Wales law expert Professor George Williams says the matter could be tested in the High Court.
He says the case will reduce people's confidence in the justice system.
"The fact that a jury is not involved, the fact that the criteria are loaded against the person because the standard of proof is significantly lower than it would normally be, mean that even though a judge, I have no doubt, will attempt to give a fair hearing and do his or her best - doesn't matter," he said.
"You've got the system stacked against someone.
"This is not a normal process and indeed that's exactly the problem with it."
Related:
'Control order' should frighten all Australians
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle today condemned the issuing of a 'control order' to Jack Thomas by the Attorney General Phillip Ruddock and renewed The Greens call for this arbitrary power to be removed from law.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/120775_comment.php#120787
Australia: The torture of Jack Thomas
Given the High Commissioner’s role and the reference to “high places,” there is every indication that the Australian government sanctioned these abuses. What is indisputable is that, acting on its behalf, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions sought to secure convictions that depended entirely upon the completely unreliable statements that Thomas made in his desperation to stop the beatings, avoid being sent to Guantánamo Bay and be allowed to go home.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20988
Jack Thomas served with control order
‘Anyway who cares about civil liberties should be outraged at this decision. We hear about authoritarian governments putting people under house arrest in Burma – well, now it’s happening right here in Australia!’
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/120670.php
QLD errorism suspect prepares bail application?
Appearing via video link today for a mention, Amundsen regularly spoke over the magistrate, saying he wanted to make another bail application because he now has technical information to prove that the devices in his home were not bombs.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20627
Lodhi gets 20 years for thought crime?
But what effect of what bombing attack? Thought crime attacks cause no vicitims or I might add no real threat to anyone! More fear has been created by the authorities baseless charges of crimes that were never committed and by the parrot press screaming out terrorist.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20387
Amendments to proposed anti-terrorism/liberty directives have been dismissed in the Western Australian Parliament.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/20365/index.php
Convicted attention seeker Jack Roche called by afp as informant
A convicted 'attention seeker' Jack Roche now an afp informant has given hearsay evidence at the committal hearing for 13 men facing [alleged] terrorism charges in Melbourne.
http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/38379
American Concentration Camp located at Guantanamo Bay
The American Concentration Camp located at Guantanamo Bay must be closed. Let the people go free. Pardon them. Show them Christian charity. Stop this evil.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20129
Lodhi lawyer welcomes Thomas appeal win
Perhaps the abc should get another Walkley award?????????????????????
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19969
If they were any tougher they'd Rust!
Tougher terrorism laws predicted after Thomas ruling?
A top defence lawyer says he is concerned the Government might push for tougher anti-terrorism laws as a result of the quashing of convictions against Melbourne man Joseph Terrence Thomas.
abc 18 Aug 06
Judge quashes Thomas conviction
This is fantastic news. Congratulations to Jack and the Thomas family! It is a vindication of everyone prepared to fight for basic rights -- and makes the bus trip all the more important. We're in the process of putting a press release out. Good news for a change!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/19874/index.php
Prosecution playing 'dirty tricks' in terrorism trial
The defence lawyers for Melbourne's 13 terrorism suspects have accused the prosecution of playing dirty tricks.
The prosecution today played a taped conversation between defendants Shoue Hammoud and Bassam Raad in which the prosecution alleges Raad suggests the authorities that put other members of their group in jail need to be slaughtered.
But in a heated volley of legal argument, defence lawyers said the reference to slaughter instead refereed to Raad's fears about what could happen to his friends in jail.
The defence lawyers said the prosecution was trying to drum up outrageous headlines to excite the media and to compound the fear being peddled in the Australian community.
The defence lawyers said the prosecution should just get on with the evidence.
ABC 18 Aug 06
Court hears fishing expedition letter 'referred to sacrifices to a cause'
The letter reads: "My love, How I miss you already? What would I ever do if we were separated for more than a day? Inshallah I will never find out. May the only cause for our separation be the cause of Allah. And may he grant me paradise alongside you as queen of your Hoor." [kiss, kiss, kiss, hug]
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/119746.php
Faheem Lodhi - another non-terrorist jailed under Australia's 'anti-terror' laws?
Jack Thomas, a non-terrorist, has been jailed under Australia's anti-terror laws. Now Faheem Lodhi has been convicted under the terror laws on flimsy, circumstantial evidence. It is likely he is another non-terrorist jailed for political purposes under the terror laws.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19641
Terrorism scapegoat was kidnapped, court hears
The Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard a man charged with [allegedly] directing a terrorist organisation was kidnapped last year.
The court was told Abdul Benbrika alleged in a conversation recorded by police that he was questioned and hit during an abduction which lasted about six hours.
The defendant did not indicate who was responsible for the alleged kidnapping.
Magistrate Paul Smith heard police initiated an internal investigation into the alleged kidnapping, but it was dropped after numerous efforts to contact Benbrika.
HoWARd's abc 15 August 2006
Magistrate allows AK-47 photo to prejudice scapegoat trial
No doubt that the magistrate seeks to incorporate the media throughout the proceedings of these innocent men because of a lack of concrete evidence and just so they can be used as scapegoat's for hoWARd's war on terror.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19476
Former medical student to stand trial in kangaroo court!
Lawyers for the 23-year-old argue the charge is not constitutionally valid because they say the laws cannot cover alleged acts committed on foreign soil which do not have an Australian connection.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19027
Student loses bid for High Court hearing
Lawyers for the 23-year-old argue the charge is not constitutionally valid because they say the laws cannot cover alleged acts committed on foreign soil which do not have an Australian connection.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/18535
Attorney General Ruddock is Oddball over anti-terrorist laws!Attorney
Attorney General Ruddock attacks different laws.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/17746
Australia's Guantanamo
Have the 13 Muslim men arrested under Australia's new anti-terror laws been subjected to Guantanamo Bay-style conditions? It's an allegation being made by Civil Rights Defence
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/18341
Major Michael Mori writes re David Hicks
The US Supreme Court has ruled the special Guantanamo trials illegal. An acceptable solution from the Americans is likely years away and our Government has run out of excuses not to act. Nearly 40,000 Australians have put their name to the Open Letter calling for David Hicks to be repatriated. I hope you'll join us now by clicking on the link:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DefendAustralianRights
International Protest Day calls for the end of Guantánamo Bay
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/17099
Judges weigh 'Joseph Thomas's' appeal! Get your facts right!
What would she have imposed for stealing a passport?
http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/843328.shtml
Joseph Thomas conviction immoral
AN EMBARRASSING conviction based on TORTURE IMMORAL
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117441.php
Standardising terrorism in the prison population?
Try giving us hope, access to our communities, a sense of caring by the outside community. And letting us out to make restitution instead of building festering anger.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117580.php
Scapegoats accused 'exploited' by guberment prostitutor
The rest of the prisoners had to stay in jail in AA maximum security segregted with no contact with human people in a box within a box with no fresh air or sunlight with the worst of the worst offenders.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117553.php
Jury indicated it could not reach a verdict, but was ordered to push on?
These charges were that he collected maps of the Australian electricity supply system in preparation of a terrorist act (15 years), BUT WITH NO DETAILS ABOUT THE PREPARATION ACCEPT MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THOUGHT CRIME? that he sought information on chemical prices for the use of explosives for a terrorist act (life), BUT NO SOUND EVIDENCE ABOUT WHETHER THE CHEMICALS WERE GOING TO BE PURCHASED OR USED FOR THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES OR A TERRORIST ACT and that he possessed a document with information on the manufacture of poisons and bombs in preparation for a terrorist act (15 years). THAT HE LIKE MANY OTHERS MAY HAVE DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET WHICH IS NOT ILLEGAL USUALLY?
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/115129.php
A dangerous precedent: Australian man convicted of “preparing terrorism”
Since 2001, the government has seized upon the “war” declared by US President George Bush for both domestic and international purposes. Under the guise of combating terrorism it has participated in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, diverted attention from mounting economic and social problems at home and legitimised previously unthinkable police state-style measures, including semi-secret trials, “preventative” detention and the ability to impose life sentences without any evidence of an actual terrorist act.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/16401
Secret evidence used in Australian “terrorist” trial
Lodhi was bundled into the court building in shackles, in full view of the media. The display was intended to convey the impression that he is a violent and highly dangerous individual. Like several other Muslim men charged with terrorist offences in Australia over the past year, Lodhi has been denied bail and held in virtual solitary confinement in a “super max” prison, cut off from family and friends. Under state and federal “counter-terrorism” laws, the traditional presumption in favour of bail has been scrapped. It will only be granted in “exceptional circumstances”. On receiving a confidential affidavit from the Commonwealth, Magistrate Michael Price imposed a number of secrecy orders despite vigorous objections by lawyers for Lodhi and by media organisations. The orders mean that the affidavit itself will remain suppressed, and the media is barred from disclosing even the general nature of the material relied upon in it.
http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/12/866066.shtml
Merry Christmas Mr Kent and Mr Haddara
After and ASIO fishing expedition they were charged last month with knowingly belonging to a Melbourne-based terrorist group, that did not exist.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9799
ASIO raid family home
This is an assault on civil liberties, for all Australians - on the eve of Human Rights Day 2005 that marks the day in 1948, that the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Shame hoWARd shame on you!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9706
Tight security impedes scapegoat case
Indymedia has learnt this includes a bank account his supporters say was set up to fund legal representation for Muslims facing any kind of legal action. The prosecution is understood to allege the money was intended for terrorist purposes.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9693
Some evidence is prejudicial to national insecurity
It has been previously reported that he is facing nine charges and is accused of planning a major terrorist attack on Sydney defence sites and the electricity grid using downloads off the internet and having 100 rolls of toilet paper to wipe his arse after low level bombs and farts. Shit!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9682
Terrorism suspects' custody conditions 'inhumane'
"This treatment is very cruel and inhumane and what I've put forward to the Premier Morris Iemma to intervene and put an end to this scandal," he said.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9657
DPP should lose the plot!
Now why would the DPP do that? Based on some notion I suppose, that john hoWARd (the hangman) wants to use Thomas's butt again, to raise the fear stakes in the introduction of the new Anti-Liberty-Dissent Directives!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9617
Things and places identified
He said Mulahalilovic worked as a handyman, lived with his wife, parents and brother and, with the help of family members, could provide around $1 million security to ensure his freedom until trial.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9423
Dangerous handyman terror threat?
But the only mother of SATAN here is John HoWARd and his new Ant-Terrorism Bill!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9418
Terror suspects 'kept in dark'
"They're all kept in solitary confinement, they're kept in Guantanamo Bay style conditions and they're very oppressive," he said.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9413
What are the dangerous chemicals police found when they went fishing?
If police say they were making bombs when they were painting motor vehicles then the only terrorist act that wasn't prevented was when police went on a fishing expedition.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9395
Man shot by police in fishing raids
But there is no such thing as an independent investigation team in NSW because police investigate themselves and cannot be relied upon ever.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9392
ASIO fishing expedition makes arrests
Are you satisfied truthseeker? Well I'm not this is just another public relations exercise that no one can prove. But trust us we know best?
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9384
hoWARd, ruddock, ellison, keelty and news ltd plotted chaos
Now they go on in the article to describe themselves as intelligence officials? But I'm sorry to say that any group of people who ask another group of people to believe what they believe based on no evidence is amongst the most unintelligent and lost group of people the world has ever known.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/8663
Houses raided over 'possible' political attack plans?
"Furthermore, nothing is reasonable about a raid on people's homes because for an alleged possibility. For those sorts of enquiries one should approach a 'soothsayer' and if you get the all clear only then should they approach people via the front door with the appropriate warrant to search one's home. A warrant based on concrete evidence that has been filtered by a juge or magistrate of the court to see whether the material is frivolous or vexatious."
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/8659
If he'd been given his passport he'd be a free man
During his trial Mr Mallah's defence counsel said he was only trying to sustain the media spotlight when he sold details of his plans to an undercover officer posing as a journalist.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/8192
Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
Apparently this victim will appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court later today and hopefully he won't be sent to the nearest "AA" Super-max prison for "social isolation" just in case ASIO aren't telling us the truth!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7545/index.php
Australian prisoners' linked to Bin Laden: Ten News
Hatzistergos: "For example, because of a perceived risk that they may engage in, or incite other persons to engage in, terrorist activities."
Terrorist prisoners held in a "box within a box" with no "fresh air or sunlight" at Goulburn HRMU may incite alleged terrorists in Long Bay to blow up Long Bay Prison's Twin Towers?
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/liverpool/2004/11/300344.html
Andrew Sullivan and the Tortued Truth
Mr. Habib said he was taken to a room with hooks on the wall and a barrel, set sideways like a roller, on the floor. His arms were stretched out, he said, and each wrist was handcuffed and fastened to a hook on the wall. By his description, the only way not to be left hanging was to stand on the barrel; an electric wire ran through it. Mr. Habib said he believed the interrogators in that room were Pakistani.
Mr. Habib said that when he refused to confess to being part of a 1995 terror plot, one man turned on the current. He lifted his feet to avoid the shock, he recalled, and he was suspended from the wall.
"I lost everything," he said.
http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2005/02/theres_been_a_s.html
Later this week, Mr Thomas will appear before a magistrate, who will determine whether the draconian scapegoat control order should remain in place.
University of New South Wales law expert Professor George Williams says the matter could be tested in the High Court.
He says the case will reduce people's confidence in the justice system.
"The fact that a jury is not involved, the fact that the criteria are loaded against the person because the standard of proof is significantly lower than it would normally be, mean that even though a judge, I have no doubt, will attempt to give a fair hearing and do his or her best - doesn't matter," he said.
"You've got the system stacked against someone.
"This is not a normal process and indeed that's exactly the problem with it."
Related:
'Control order' should frighten all Australians
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle today condemned the issuing of a 'control order' to Jack Thomas by the Attorney General Phillip Ruddock and renewed The Greens call for this arbitrary power to be removed from law.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/120775_comment.php#120787 Australia: The torture of Jack Thomas
Given the High Commissioner’s role and the reference to “high places,” there is every indication that the Australian government sanctioned these abuses. What is indisputable is that, acting on its behalf, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions sought to secure convictions that depended entirely upon the completely unreliable statements that Thomas made in his desperation to stop the beatings, avoid being sent to Guantánamo Bay and be allowed to go home.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20988 Jack Thomas served with control order
‘Anyway who cares about civil liberties should be outraged at this decision. We hear about authoritarian governments putting people under house arrest in Burma – well, now it’s happening right here in Australia!’
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/120670.php QLD errorism suspect prepares bail application?
Appearing via video link today for a mention, Amundsen regularly spoke over the magistrate, saying he wanted to make another bail application because he now has technical information to prove that the devices in his home were not bombs.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20627 Lodhi gets 20 years for thought crime?
But what effect of what bombing attack? Thought crime attacks cause no vicitims or I might add no real threat to anyone! More fear has been created by the authorities baseless charges of crimes that were never committed and by the parrot press screaming out terrorist.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20387 Amendments to proposed anti-terrorism/liberty directives have been dismissed in the Western Australian Parliament.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/20365/index.php Convicted attention seeker Jack Roche called by afp as informant
A convicted 'attention seeker' Jack Roche now an afp informant has given hearsay evidence at the committal hearing for 13 men facing [alleged] terrorism charges in Melbourne.
http://sydney.indymedia.org/node/38379 American Concentration Camp located at Guantanamo Bay
The American Concentration Camp located at Guantanamo Bay must be closed. Let the people go free. Pardon them. Show them Christian charity. Stop this evil.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/20129 Lodhi lawyer welcomes Thomas appeal win
Perhaps the abc should get another Walkley award?????????????????????
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19969 If they were any tougher they'd Rust!
Tougher terrorism laws predicted after Thomas ruling?
A top defence lawyer says he is concerned the Government might push for tougher anti-terrorism laws as a result of the quashing of convictions against Melbourne man Joseph Terrence Thomas.
abc 18 Aug 06
Judge quashes Thomas conviction
This is fantastic news. Congratulations to Jack and the Thomas family! It is a vindication of everyone prepared to fight for basic rights -- and makes the bus trip all the more important. We're in the process of putting a press release out. Good news for a change!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/19874/index.php Prosecution playing 'dirty tricks' in terrorism trial
The defence lawyers for Melbourne's 13 terrorism suspects have accused the prosecution of playing dirty tricks.
The prosecution today played a taped conversation between defendants Shoue Hammoud and Bassam Raad in which the prosecution alleges Raad suggests the authorities that put other members of their group in jail need to be slaughtered.
But in a heated volley of legal argument, defence lawyers said the reference to slaughter instead refereed to Raad's fears about what could happen to his friends in jail.
The defence lawyers said the prosecution was trying to drum up outrageous headlines to excite the media and to compound the fear being peddled in the Australian community.
The defence lawyers said the prosecution should just get on with the evidence.
ABC 18 Aug 06
Court hears fishing expedition letter 'referred to sacrifices to a cause'
The letter reads: "My love, How I miss you already? What would I ever do if we were separated for more than a day? Inshallah I will never find out. May the only cause for our separation be the cause of Allah. And may he grant me paradise alongside you as queen of your Hoor." [kiss, kiss, kiss, hug]
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/08/119746.php Faheem Lodhi - another non-terrorist jailed under Australia's 'anti-terror' laws?
Jack Thomas, a non-terrorist, has been jailed under Australia's anti-terror laws. Now Faheem Lodhi has been convicted under the terror laws on flimsy, circumstantial evidence. It is likely he is another non-terrorist jailed for political purposes under the terror laws.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19641 Terrorism scapegoat was kidnapped, court hears
The Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard a man charged with [allegedly] directing a terrorist organisation was kidnapped last year.
The court was told Abdul Benbrika alleged in a conversation recorded by police that he was questioned and hit during an abduction which lasted about six hours.
The defendant did not indicate who was responsible for the alleged kidnapping.
Magistrate Paul Smith heard police initiated an internal investigation into the alleged kidnapping, but it was dropped after numerous efforts to contact Benbrika.
HoWARd's abc 15 August 2006
Magistrate allows AK-47 photo to prejudice scapegoat trial
No doubt that the magistrate seeks to incorporate the media throughout the proceedings of these innocent men because of a lack of concrete evidence and just so they can be used as scapegoat's for hoWARd's war on terror.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19476 Former medical student to stand trial in kangaroo court!
Lawyers for the 23-year-old argue the charge is not constitutionally valid because they say the laws cannot cover alleged acts committed on foreign soil which do not have an Australian connection.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/19027 Student loses bid for High Court hearing
Lawyers for the 23-year-old argue the charge is not constitutionally valid because they say the laws cannot cover alleged acts committed on foreign soil which do not have an Australian connection.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/18535 Attorney General Ruddock is Oddball over anti-terrorist laws!Attorney
Attorney General Ruddock attacks different laws.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/17746 Australia's Guantanamo
Have the 13 Muslim men arrested under Australia's new anti-terror laws been subjected to Guantanamo Bay-style conditions? It's an allegation being made by Civil Rights Defence
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/18341 Major Michael Mori writes re David Hicks
The US Supreme Court has ruled the special Guantanamo trials illegal. An acceptable solution from the Americans is likely years away and our Government has run out of excuses not to act. Nearly 40,000 Australians have put their name to the Open Letter calling for David Hicks to be repatriated. I hope you'll join us now by clicking on the link:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/DefendAustralianRights International Protest Day calls for the end of Guantánamo Bay
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/17099 Judges weigh 'Joseph Thomas's' appeal! Get your facts right!
What would she have imposed for stealing a passport?
http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/2006/07/843328.shtml Joseph Thomas conviction immoral
AN EMBARRASSING conviction based on TORTURE IMMORAL
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117441.php Standardising terrorism in the prison population?
Try giving us hope, access to our communities, a sense of caring by the outside community. And letting us out to make restitution instead of building festering anger.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117580.php Scapegoats accused 'exploited' by guberment prostitutor
The rest of the prisoners had to stay in jail in AA maximum security segregted with no contact with human people in a box within a box with no fresh air or sunlight with the worst of the worst offenders.
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/117553.php Jury indicated it could not reach a verdict, but was ordered to push on?
These charges were that he collected maps of the Australian electricity supply system in preparation of a terrorist act (15 years), BUT WITH NO DETAILS ABOUT THE PREPARATION ACCEPT MATERIAL TO SUPPORT THOUGHT CRIME? that he sought information on chemical prices for the use of explosives for a terrorist act (life), BUT NO SOUND EVIDENCE ABOUT WHETHER THE CHEMICALS WERE GOING TO BE PURCHASED OR USED FOR THE USE OF EXPLOSIVES OR A TERRORIST ACT and that he possessed a document with information on the manufacture of poisons and bombs in preparation for a terrorist act (15 years). THAT HE LIKE MANY OTHERS MAY HAVE DOWNLOADED FROM THE INTERNET WHICH IS NOT ILLEGAL USUALLY?
http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/06/115129.php A dangerous precedent: Australian man convicted of “preparing terrorism”
Since 2001, the government has seized upon the “war” declared by US President George Bush for both domestic and international purposes. Under the guise of combating terrorism it has participated in the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, diverted attention from mounting economic and social problems at home and legitimised previously unthinkable police state-style measures, including semi-secret trials, “preventative” detention and the ability to impose life sentences without any evidence of an actual terrorist act.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/16401 Secret evidence used in Australian “terrorist” trial
Lodhi was bundled into the court building in shackles, in full view of the media. The display was intended to convey the impression that he is a violent and highly dangerous individual. Like several other Muslim men charged with terrorist offences in Australia over the past year, Lodhi has been denied bail and held in virtual solitary confinement in a “super max” prison, cut off from family and friends. Under state and federal “counter-terrorism” laws, the traditional presumption in favour of bail has been scrapped. It will only be granted in “exceptional circumstances”. On receiving a confidential affidavit from the Commonwealth, Magistrate Michael Price imposed a number of secrecy orders despite vigorous objections by lawyers for Lodhi and by media organisations. The orders mean that the affidavit itself will remain suppressed, and the media is barred from disclosing even the general nature of the material relied upon in it.
http://www.indymedia.org/en/2004/12/866066.shtml Merry Christmas Mr Kent and Mr Haddara
After and ASIO fishing expedition they were charged last month with knowingly belonging to a Melbourne-based terrorist group, that did not exist.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9799 ASIO raid family home
This is an assault on civil liberties, for all Australians - on the eve of Human Rights Day 2005 that marks the day in 1948, that the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Shame hoWARd shame on you!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9706 Tight security impedes scapegoat case
Indymedia has learnt this includes a bank account his supporters say was set up to fund legal representation for Muslims facing any kind of legal action. The prosecution is understood to allege the money was intended for terrorist purposes.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9693 Some evidence is prejudicial to national insecurity
It has been previously reported that he is facing nine charges and is accused of planning a major terrorist attack on Sydney defence sites and the electricity grid using downloads off the internet and having 100 rolls of toilet paper to wipe his arse after low level bombs and farts. Shit!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9682 Terrorism suspects' custody conditions 'inhumane'
"This treatment is very cruel and inhumane and what I've put forward to the Premier Morris Iemma to intervene and put an end to this scandal," he said.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9657 DPP should lose the plot!
Now why would the DPP do that? Based on some notion I suppose, that john hoWARd (the hangman) wants to use Thomas's butt again, to raise the fear stakes in the introduction of the new Anti-Liberty-Dissent Directives!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9617 Things and places identified
He said Mulahalilovic worked as a handyman, lived with his wife, parents and brother and, with the help of family members, could provide around $1 million security to ensure his freedom until trial.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9423 Dangerous handyman terror threat?
But the only mother of SATAN here is John HoWARd and his new Ant-Terrorism Bill!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9418 Terror suspects 'kept in dark'
"They're all kept in solitary confinement, they're kept in Guantanamo Bay style conditions and they're very oppressive," he said.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9413 What are the dangerous chemicals police found when they went fishing?
If police say they were making bombs when they were painting motor vehicles then the only terrorist act that wasn't prevented was when police went on a fishing expedition.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9395 Man shot by police in fishing raids
But there is no such thing as an independent investigation team in NSW because police investigate themselves and cannot be relied upon ever.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9392 ASIO fishing expedition makes arrests
Are you satisfied truthseeker? Well I'm not this is just another public relations exercise that no one can prove. But trust us we know best?
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/9384 hoWARd, ruddock, ellison, keelty and news ltd plotted chaos
Now they go on in the article to describe themselves as intelligence officials? But I'm sorry to say that any group of people who ask another group of people to believe what they believe based on no evidence is amongst the most unintelligent and lost group of people the world has ever known.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/8663 Houses raided over 'possible' political attack plans?
"Furthermore, nothing is reasonable about a raid on people's homes because for an alleged possibility. For those sorts of enquiries one should approach a 'soothsayer' and if you get the all clear only then should they approach people via the front door with the appropriate warrant to search one's home. A warrant based on concrete evidence that has been filtered by a juge or magistrate of the court to see whether the material is frivolous or vexatious."
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/8659 If he'd been given his passport he'd be a free man
During his trial Mr Mallah's defence counsel said he was only trying to sustain the media spotlight when he sold details of his plans to an undercover officer posing as a journalist.
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display_any/8192 Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
Apparently this victim will appear before the Melbourne Magistrates Court later today and hopefully he won't be sent to the nearest "AA" Super-max prison for "social isolation" just in case ASIO aren't telling us the truth!
http://adelaide.indymedia.org/newswire/display/7545/index.php Australian prisoners' linked to Bin Laden: Ten News
Hatzistergos: "For example, because of a perceived risk that they may engage in, or incite other persons to engage in, terrorist activities."
Terrorist prisoners held in a "box within a box" with no "fresh air or sunlight" at Goulburn HRMU may incite alleged terrorists in Long Bay to blow up Long Bay Prison's Twin Towers?
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/liverpool/2004/11/300344.html Andrew Sullivan and the Tortued Truth
Mr. Habib said he was taken to a room with hooks on the wall and a barrel, set sideways like a roller, on the floor. His arms were stretched out, he said, and each wrist was handcuffed and fastened to a hook on the wall. By his description, the only way not to be left hanging was to stand on the barrel; an electric wire ran through it. Mr. Habib said he believed the interrogators in that room were Pakistani.
Mr. Habib said that when he refused to confess to being part of a 1995 terror plot, one man turned on the current. He lifted his feet to avoid the shock, he recalled, and he was suspended from the wall.
"I lost everything," he said.
http://bodyandsoul.typepad.com/blog/2005/02/theres_been_a_s.html
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My brother Jack, a man myths are made about
29.08.2006 23:53
IT'S ALMOST five years since this saga began for my older brother and my family. In all of that time, throughout the media and government portrayals of the infamous "Jihad Jack" being some kind of terrorist or threat to the community, we've been unwavering in our support for him. We understand perfectly well that there will always be sections of the Australian public that will accept these characterisations as fact. We all know lies told often enough become truths.
Beyond his immediate family and circle of friends, the caring and compassionate Jack with a cheeky sense of humour is a lot less well known, so it's hard for those who do know him to reconcile the public media image with the Jack they know. Every now and then, I receive emails from old high school friends and ex-girlfriends of his who can't believe that Jack has been accused of being a terrorist asking me to pass on their love and support to him.
There are far too many myths around my brother for us to ever totally set straight. This doesn't alter the facts as we know them, though — that Jack is not and has never been a terrorist. Some people might say, being his brother, I could only be expected to say that, but if he was a real terrorist, my family and I could hardly be expected to stand by him in the way we have.
Jack's being served with an interim control order has come as a truly shocking blow to us at a time when we were hoping that Jack could begin the process of reconnecting with his wife and children and try to overcome the post-traumatic stress disorder he's suffering. At the time the three federal police officers knocked on the door of the Loch Sport holiday house in which they were staying, the family were just settling down to breakfast. This supposed "terrorist threat" made the agents' coffee while he tried to absorb the reality of what was going on. After only 10 days of freedom, Jack is now subject to restrictions on his movement and communications.
Just a week before, my father, Ian, had been anxious about such an order being imposed. Jack's lawyer, Robert Stary, said it would be outrageous for the Australian Federal Police or the Attorney-General's office to make such a move when the appeal, where Jack's convictions were quashed and he was made a free man, was yet to be finalised.
I first heard about it on Monday morning when my father rang at 10.30. Given the timing, it was clear to me that this was a spiteful stunt, so I contacted Civil Rights Defence, who put out an immediate press release knowing it was only a matter of time before the order became public knowledge.
Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has since declared this to be about protecting Australians, but this should be greeted with widespread scepticism. We have always maintained that this case is more to do with making examples of people than national security. Both the Attorney-General and the AFP have failed in key tests of this case, and they are determined to save face. In February, a jury acquitted Jack of the two main charges of providing support to a terrorist organisation. On August 18, the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that the interview (in Pakistan) was made involuntarily and should never have been admitted by the trial judge.
This is a severe embarrassment to Ruddock and the AFP, so they have turned to the new powers and used them for their own political purposes. Far from being a reassurance to the community about the sensible application of these laws in protecting Australians, this shows that individual Australians can be targeted and made examples of regardless of whether they constitute a real threat or not. It's a great tragedy that the Attorney-General's office and Australia's foremost police agency have been politicised in this way. Incidents like this can only serve to weaken public confidence in them over time.
The family and I often wonder at the amount of time, resources and money devoted to pursuing my brother and how they might have been better spent. Jack has already suffered torture, threats, mental illness and 14 months of incarceration between his time in Pakistan and Australian prisons, in extremely punitive conditions for the most part. We look forward to the day when Jack can get on with things and try to put this episode behind him. Until that day, his family and friends who truly know him will be supporting him with love and faith.
Les Thomas is Jack Thomas' brother.
Parrort Press
Australian asio warns, warns, warns, errorism threat
30.08.2006 02:03
asio warns, warns, warns, errorism threat is real oink, oink, oink
asio director-general paul o'sullivan has 'warned' 'warned' 'warned' the threat of errorism is as real in Australia as it is in any other country.
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Even if they make it happen or even if they allow it to happen just like they did in Bali.
Australia's Terrorism Wake Up Call
The horrific bombings of the Sari Club and Paddy's Bar in Bali, on October 12, 2002, considerably strengthened the hand of the CoW in pursuing the War on Terror. Here was an opportunity to harden the hearts of the Australian and US public against Islamic fundamentalists. It was also a chance for the Indonesian government to justify harsh measures in the war against terrorists and secessionists, such at those in the province of Aceh.
Last I heard asio and the CIA specialize in torture to get to the truth
Australia: The torture of Jack Thomas
Given the High Commissioner’s role and the reference to “high places,” there is every indication that the Australian government sanctioned these abuses. What is indisputable is that, acting on its behalf, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions sought to secure convictions that depended entirely upon the completely unreliable statements that Thomas made in his desperation to stop the beatings, avoid being sent to Guantánamo Bay and be allowed to go home.
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Maybe we need to get to the truth with paul o'sullivan?
Collective Punishment
Phoney's legacy
Parrort Press
Walkley Award?
30.08.2006 02:28
john howard's abc's Four corners [Walls] program has been served with a subpoena to surrender its tapes and notes of interviews with Melbourne man Jack Thomas.
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What, so we can now have a trial by howard's abcdefghijklnopqrstuvwzyz media?
Or just so the abc can get another Walkley Award!
Don't hold us in suspense?
Parrort Press
Thomas denies knowingly training with Al Qaeda
30.08.2006 08:05
Parrort Press
Australia’s first “control order” imposed on Jack Thomas
31.08.2006 01:33
Mike Head via sam
Thomas control order conditions silly: magistrate
31.08.2006 05:08
Parrort Press