DPP granted time to review case against terror accused Adnan Karabegovic

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This was published 9 years ago

DPP granted time to review case against terror accused Adnan Karabegovic

By Mark Russell

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has been granted time to review the case against a Melbourne man accused of being a terrorist.

Adnan Karabegovic, 26, of Officer, is facing six charges of possessing the al-Qaeda magazine Inspire, in connection with assisting in the preparation of a terrorist act. Each offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years' jail.

Prosecutor Jeremy Rapke, QC, told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that a recent High Court ruling in the case could impact on what charges Mr Karabegovic faces if he goes to trial.

Mr Rapke said the Commonwealth DPP needed time to consider the "shape of the trial" and whether a decision would be made to proceed with the trial in some form. Justice Lex Lasry agreed to adjourn the case for a further directions hearing on November 14.

Mr Karabegovic's trial had been due to begin in October last year but there was a dispute over what Justice John Dixon planned to tell the jury at the end of the case before they retired to consider their verdict.

The Commonwealth DPP subsequently lost an appeal against the judge's ruling in the Court of Appeal and a further application to the High Court for leave to appeal was rejected.

In his ruling, Justice Dixon said the issue in dispute was over what he planned to tell the jury about the meaning of the phrase "connected with preparation for, the engagement of a person in, or assistance in a terrorist act".

"If the Crown has done no more than identify the magazine as the kind of magazine that a terrorist might read, that is insufficient," the judge said.

"If the jury is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that any part of the magazine is connected with assisting a terrorist act, then the Crown has proved that element of the offence."

Justice Dixon said the six charges against Mr Karabegovic involved different editions of Inspire magazine, which is produced by the terrorist organisation al-Qaeda.

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"A section of each magazine describes it as 'a resource manual for those who loath the tyrants; includes bomb making techniques, security measures, guerrilla tactics, weapons training and all other jihad related activities, "' the judge said.

"The Crown directed my attention to an article 'Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom' as an example ... That article provides a step-by-step description of how to construct a bomb from readily available ingredients.

"The article recommends that for an effective explosive device, the device should be placed in a crowded area, camouflaged with something, such as cardboard, that will not hinder the shrapnel."

Justice Dixon said the Crown's prosecution summary referred to other activities alleged against Mr Karabegovic "including banners publicly displayed with protest messages about the presence of Australian troops in Muslim lands, [telephone] intercept evidence of conversations in which the accused is alleged to have made relevant statements about his intentions to defend Islam and the duties of jihad and discussed bombs and bushfires."

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