The 2005 Sydney terrorism plot concerned a group of five men arrested in 2005 on charges of planning an act of terrorism targeting
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
's most populous city and the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. The group was found guilty on 16 October 2009 and were sentenced on 15 February 2010 for terms up to 28 years.
Charges
Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Mohamed Ali Elomar, Abdul Rakib Hasan, and Mohammed Omar Jamal were arrested in various neighbourhoods of Sydney and were tried in the
New South Wales Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...
over a terror-related plot they planned between July 2004 and November 2005. Each pleaded
not guilty to charges of conspiring to commit a terrorist act or acts. The final cost of the trial is expected to be more than A$10 million.
The
Crown Prosecutor claimed that the men were motivated by a belief that
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
was under attack.
The five allegedly had links to
Abdul Nacer Benbrika
Abdul Nacer Benbrika ( ar, عبد الناصر بن بريكة) (born in Algeria about 1960), also known as Abu Bakr (Arabic: أبو بكر), is a convicted criminal, currently serving an Australian custodial sentence of fifteen years, with a n ...
, who is under arrest in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
.
Police searches of their homes discovered instructions on bomb-making, 28,000 rounds of ammunition (including 11,000
7.62×39mm
The 7.62×39mm (aka 7.62 Soviet, formerly .30 Russian Short) round is a rimless bottlenecked intermediate cartridge of Soviet origin. The cartridge is widely used due to the worldwide proliferation of Russian SKS and AK-47 pattern rifles, as ...
), 12 rifles, militant Islamist literature, and footage of beheadings carried out by Islamists, and also of aircraft crashing into the
World Trade Center
World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association.
World Trade Center may refer to:
Buildings
* List of World Trade Centers
* World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
on
11 September 2001
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
. According to the prosecution, the men purchased explosive chemicals and guns between July 2004 and November 2005.
Trial
The men were put on trial late in 2008. Closing arguments were heard on 28 July 2009. The trial took place in a specially-built high-security court building in Sydney.
[ Prosecutor Richard Maidment claimed that the five men wanted "violent ]jihad
Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...
which involved the application of extreme force and violence, including the killing of those who did not share the fundamentalist... extremist, beliefs".mistrial
In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
was almost declared when the defence asked for the jury to be dismissed; it was discovered that a young woman, who was a relative of one of the accused, had been coming to court and reportedly writing down descriptions of the jurors.[ However, the jurors said it would not affect their deliberations and the judge allowed the trial to continue.][
]
Verdict and sentencing
The five were found guilty on 16 October 2009. The trial was one of Australia's longest and involved approximately 300 witnesses and 3,000 exhibits, including 18 hours of telephone intercepts and 30 days of surveillance tapes, which has overtaken the record previously held by the liquidation of Bell Group
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an intern ...
.[ Outside the court, supporters of the five men shouted in protest and anger after they watched the ruling on an outdoor screen.][
The perpetrators were jailed on 15 February 2010 for terms ranging from 23 to 28 years, as follows:]New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal
The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for criminal matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian State of New South Wales.
Jurisdiction
The Court hears appea ...
, all five men lost an appeal
In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...
against both their conviction and their sentences.
See also
*Terrorism in Australia
Terrorism in Australia deals with terrorist acts in Australia as well as steps taken by the Australian government to counter the threat of terrorism. In 2004 the Australian government has identified transnational terrorism as also a threat to ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sydney Terrorism Plot
Failed terrorist attempts in Oceania
Islamic terrorism in Australia
Terrorist incidents in Oceania in 2005
Sydney Terrorism Plot, 2005
Terrorist incidents in Australia
Islam in Sydney
2005 crimes in Australia
Terrorist incidents in Australia in the 2000s