An extraordinary ruling indeed. "Judge eases jail for terror trial 12," from AAP (thanks to Sr. Soph):
THE 12 defendants in Australia's largest terrorism prosecution are not getting a fair trial, the judge overseeing the case has admitted.The startling admission came as Justice Bernard Bongiorno said the conditions under which the accused are being held are so severe they could cause mental illness and jeopardise their ability to defend themselves.
In a ruling he described as "extraordinary'', Justice Bongiorno ordered the men be moved to a new prison and called for their conditions to be upgraded.
The 12 accused went on trial in Melbourne last month charged with being members of a terrorist organisation and other terror-related offences.
The trial is expected to continue until at least the end of the year, but Justice Bongiorno ordered it not resume until the men's conditions are improved.
He warned if their conditions were not improved, he would consider releasing them on bail.
Justice Bongiorno ordered the sweeping changes after hearing medical evidence from four psychiatrists supporting the men's claims that they could not get a fair trial if the severe conditions of their incarceration continued.
"I am satisfied that the evidence before the court establishes that the accused in this case are currently being subjected to an unfair trial,'' Justice Bongiorno said.
But he added they had not been disadvantaged so far, saying the impact of the conditions would be cumulative.
It is the first time a Victorian judge has ordered that conditions for prisoners be changed.
In his ruling, Justice Bongiorno accepted the 12 men were already suffering psychiatric problems that had affected their ability to follow proceedings.
A continuation of the treatment was likely to affect their ability to defend themselves, he said.
The men have been held in the high security Acacia wing of Barwon Prison, near Geelong, since their arrest two years ago.
To attend court they must travel for up to two hours to Melbourne each day, and two hours back, shackled and handcuffed in small compartments in a prison van.
They are strip-searched when they leave Barwon and again when they return and have little time outside their cells.
Justice Bongiorno ordered the men be transferred from Barwon to the Metropolitan Assessment Prison in central Melbourne, that they be transported directly from there to court each day and that they be allowed out of their cells for 10 hours each day when not in court.
The judge also ordered that they not be shackled or subjected to any other restraining devices other than ordinary handcuffs while being transported.
He said they should not be strip-searched after returning from court and that they be treated as ordinary remand prisoners....
The trial has been told the 12 intended to undertake "violent jihad'' in Australia and had formed a terror cell.
They had discussed killing then prime minister John Howard and had identified railway stations and football grounds as likely targets....
Is their treatment any different than the rest of the prisoners? Maybe no prisoner can get a fair trial because of 'conditions'. Well I got news conditions in jail/prison are always tough.
Sounds like special treatment for special prisoners to me. Too bad prison is so hard on them, I feel real sorry. This judge needs to be fired. He is not extending these 'advantages' to other prisoners...
NIce dhimmi judge - we might not kill you when the jihad overwhelms Australia. But then again, we could make a mistake. Infidels all look alike to us.
huh? are you kidding me?? isn't that what every other prisoner has to go through as well? why do these guys get special treatment??
Why not just put them up in a luxury hotel? Or would that be too cruel as well?
Idiot judges like this one should be jailed with this kind of filth. It might change their tune.
Put them in GTMO.
In his ruling, Justice Bongiorno accepted the 12 men were already suffering psychiatric problems that had affected their ability to follow proceedings.
Well, of course they're suffering psychiatric problems, they're muslims! DUH!
If you didn't know WHO these alleged perps. are, and for what they are being tried, I'd respectfully suggest that there wouldn't be any cause for disagreeing with the judge. Like it or not these guys are simply Defendants at this point; they haven't been convicted of anything (yet). Traveling in a hot armoured vehicle, shackled hand and foot, for four hours a day, everyday (less weekends), is NOT normal procedural handling of criminal suspects in ANY developed country!
The fact that they've been ordered to a remand centre close to the courthouse is proof that they've been treated with prejudice.
Hey, once they've been convicted, I'd be happy to see them buried up to their necks in the bloody desert!
http://www.ga.gov.au/education/facts/landforms/geogarea.htm
As much as they become talking points for us, you can bet their past and current treatment is fuel for the jihadists.
Martin Kramer offers some thoughts on a parallel POV...http://sandbox.blog-city.com/esposito_predictions_right_and_wrong.htm
As angry as we are, let's not lose our ability to discuss things with logic and dispassion. Our future likely depends on it.
(Wartime Britain's satirical theatre comes to mind)
"Wartime song,
(1st Verse) Hitler, he's only got one ball,
Goering has two but they are small,
Himmler had something simmler,
But poor old Goebbels has no balls at all.
(4th Verse) Hitler has only got one ball,
The other is in the Albert Hall.
His mother, the dirty bugger,
Cut it off when he was small."
I agree with DaninVan as to housing them nearer the Courthouse if and/or until they are convicted and sentenced -- if for no other reason than to save on fuel and not to give them additional ammo for appeal. However, allowing them out of their cells in general population for up to 10 hours per day when not at the Court, seems like an opportunity for them to do some Dawah and seek new converts to their jihad. THAT is a bad idea.
Buon Giorno! Ascoltatemi:
Isn't undue exposure to the KKKorag psychologically destabilizing enough? Never mind the fluffy pillows. Let 'em rot in an Egyptian prison.
Better yet.. release them to the Najistan of their choice and then make a big fanfare about how they converted to Judaism or how they "found Christ".
Then let islam do what it does best...
[what a WASTE of Aussie taxes this whole thing]
Bongiorno is the judge who made sure that nobody who has even the faintest idea about Islam could be on the jury, because he or she could be 'biased'...
The guy is a lunatic...
Here, scroll down to
"Judge in Australia jihad terror case: “You must not start reading about Islam or Muslims or terrorism or anything of that nature”
Buongiorno is a lunatic activist judge who sees himself above the law:
http://sheikyermami.com/2008/02/13/australia-jihad-terror-plot-to-kill-1000/
Don't plot the terror, slime, if you can't do the time.
bevc; spot on! Keep to the letter of the law...NO grounds for appeal.
The judge, on the other hand, sounds like (from the 'sheiks' comment)a loose cannon.
Do they have a special school that they send these judges to? You know, where they unlearn common sense...? 10 hours a day?! Geesus, the rest of the prison population should be so lucky!
I'd be interested to know what the Remand facility's protocol is vis-a-vis exercise time etc. How does a judge get to make the rules concerning prisoner treatment? Over and above the basics, I mean?
"The prisoner 'Mo' will receive extra special treatment."...and THAT won't lead to unrest in the rest of the prison population! >0
I see... a stabbed guard and a successful escape.
Brilliant coddling plan, Oz.
Throw another brain cell on the barbie.
Prisoners are stripped search when they don't even leave the prison grounds, but simply have a visitor. Why don't these particular men have to be searched after they leave the prison grounds? Sounds like the judge is not interested in the safety of the guards or the other (non-Muslim) prisoners. Somebody is going to get hurt.
I meant to say "strip searched".
The biggest problem here in Melbournistan, Oz, is a judiciary stacked with activists.
Bongiorno is merely one of a growing number, thanks to our activist attorney general, Rob Hulls.
We've had Labor running the state into the ground since 1999 (and doing a mighty fine job of it so far).
We have the appalling Racial and Religious Tolerance Act of 2001 (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/rarta2001265/ ) which was used to persecute two pastors to for vilifying islam.
Google the two danny's, for example, or search the archives here for Danny Nallia and Daniel Scot.
We now have, on top of that nasty piece of draconian lawgiving, a new charter of rights, which was pushed through with minimal consultation of the community, and includes such illuminating information such as the fact that as an inhabitant of the State of Victoria, I can actually choose to leave the state.
Unsurprisingly, I was unaware that it was my human right to live outside of the state if I wished, and I hold a sneaking suspicion that rights now granted could perhaps be taken away with the stroke of a pen one day.
http://tiny.cc/NVcJ4 will hopefully work for that particular piece of creeping socialism.
Just to bring it back to the topic, there is little doubt in my mind that Benbrika and Co will get off with a slap on the wrists and a loophole enabling them to apply for some sort of compo from the government.
We have far too many zealots sitting on the bench and far too few genuinely impartial judges for it to happen any other way.
L.Drummond.
I hope the links work. I just can't get a handle on html in typekey. Apologies in advance.
I need to remind everyone again that we should remember that the judge is likely doing his best to ensure they cannot cry mistrial when things go badly for them.
I wish I could be so positive, payingattention.
I just remember cases here where rapists and women-beaters have been given a rap on the knuckles (if that) and sent home.
I don't hold out much hope for a realistic, positive outcome in this case.
Not in this state.
L.Drummond.
Thanks for the background, 'L. Drummond'...you did however bring in a bit of confusion, are you saying that the trial is in a St. of Victoria jurisdiction, or in a Federal court? (are these judges State judges or Federal appointees?)
If it's anything like Canada's appointment system, getting rid of a lousy judge is harder than getting rid of an incompetent Prof. (It seems they need to do something actually criminal and even then it's a crap shoot.)
Bye the bye, ours is still pending:
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2370019
L Drummon,
We should remember the case here in NSW of the Skaf brothers and their co - horts who when found guilty of pack rape tried all manner of excuse to appeal a mis-trial.
I think he is still appealing his 55 year sentence on spurious grounds of mistreatment isnt he?