He claims to have fooled al-Qaeda; did he fool the court as well?
"Australia's 'Jihad Jack' free," from the Straits Times, October 29:
MELBOURNE - AN AUSTRALIAN Muslim convert walked free on Wednesday after a years-long legal battle when a judged sentenced him to jail for holding a falsified passport, but released him due to time already served.Joseph (Jack) Thomas was the first Australian to be convicted under anti-terrorism laws introduced after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US and subsequently dubbed 'Jihad Jack' by the media.
But the conviction for receiving money from the Al-Qaeda terror network while he was in Afghanistan was later quashed and a second trial last week cleared the 35-year-old of the charge.
He was sentenced on Wednesday to a nine-month jail term for possessing a falsified passport but was immediately released because he had already spent that time in custody.
The decision ends Thomas' five-and-a-half year legal battle which has seen him undergo two trials and spend some 265 days in jail in Australia.
The court heard that Thomas had changed the Taliban visa for Afghanistan in his passport because he felt that leaving it there would be a 'one way ticket to Guantanamo Bay'.
Thomas entered Afghanistan in 2001 before the September 11 attacks and was arrested in neighbouring Pakistan in January 2003 as he attempted he return to Australia. He was held in detention in Pakistan for six months without charge.
In 2006, an Australian court convicted him of accepting funds from Al-Qaeda.
He was released that August when the court of appeal quashed the conviction, ruling that an Australian police interview with Thomas in Pakistan in 2003 was conducted under duress and was therefore inadmissible.
Thomas' lawyer Jim Kennan said his client was relieved at the outcome.
'We're just pleased that the matter has now finally concluded,' he said outside court. -- AFP
score one for the Australia's dhimmi's.
Australia gonna fall, right after the home country,uk.
we gonna all fall, if we keep these leaders of ours
He was released that August when the court of appeal quashed the conviction, ruling that an Australian police interview with Thomas in Pakistan in 2003 was conducted under duress and was therefore inadmissible.
That's a lame ruling...'All' police interviews are conducted under duress...
OT - News from the Paradise of Somalia:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081029/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia
Australia: its no longer a crime to go on the jihad warpath
Australia’s Jihad Jack free
Largely due to activist judges such as High Court judge Michael Kirby. Justice Kirby, a devoted activist for the homosexual agenda, featured here and here, pressurized and accused fellow judges of caving in to demands of governments seeking sweeping counter-terrorism powers that breached the constitution.
http://sheikyermami.com/2008/10/29/australia-its-no-longer-a-crime-to-go-on-the-jihad-warpath/
Huh?
Why is this case being heard in a civilian court?
Why does the West continue to think that jihad is a criminal matter that should be referred to our already crowded and over-worked justice sytem?
Jihad is WAR, not a criminal act.
Time to start treating it as such.
OT, but related:
Khawaja found guilty in terrorism trial
An Ottawa man who was the first person to be charged under Canada's anti-terrorism laws for allegedly participating in a plot to bomb targets in Britain was found guilty by an Ontario judge on Wednesday.
He was accused of scheming to set off fertilizer bombs in England in 2004. In particular, the 29-year-old software developer built a remote-control device to trigger the explosions, which were never carried out, his trial heard.
Charged under Canada's Anti-terrorism Act, Khawaja, who was tried without a jury, had pleaded not guilty to seven charges of financing and facilitating terrorism.
Though Rutherford found Khawaja guilty of all seven charges, in the ruling he said that no evidence could be found that the man had knowledge of what a group in London was plotting when he built a remote-control device that could be used to trigger a bomb.
Khawaja was convicted on five charges of financing and facilitating terrorism and two Criminal Code offences related to building a remote-control device, known as the Hi-Fi Digimonster, intended to trigger bomb blasts.
Khawaja faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/
The comments are interesting.
Why does the West continue to think that jihad is a criminal matter that should be referred to our already crowded and over-worked justice sytem?
Jihad is WAR, not a criminal act.
You're right, tanstaafi.
However, the "crowded and over-worked justice system" is not causing it.
Activist judges who push their misguided agendas are causing it. Check out some of the links on Judge Kirby, the guy is a raving lunatic!
http://sheikyermami.com/2008/10/29/australia-its-no-longer-a-crime-to-go-on-the-jihad-warpath/
I wonder at what point Jack will resume his Jihad activities?
I can just imagine the thinking of the powers that be among the Australian Laborites who are now running the show:
"Ahhh hell, let's leave him be for now. Around the clock surveillance takes too much manpower and money...and besides, he's learned his lesson. He'll behave."
G'day mate.
Sheik - well, yes, this guy shouldn't be on the bench. I guess my question is more on the lines of why does this become a civilian matter? Australia has a Defense Force, they should have taken custody of this yahoo and thrown him in a military prison. He is not a criminal, he is a soldier from the other side.
Kangaroo-Kourt frees Jihad-Jack (no pun intended), so now we can all sit around on pins and needles and wait for further shenanigans from this not-so-innocent "Muslim convert". The title alone, Muslim convert, is cause for concern, let alone his Al-Qaeda connections. Good goin' mates!
The article didn't say if he was under any restrictions such as those that apply to David Hicks. Hopefully there will be an appeal against the leniet sentence that was given to him.