What Janet Albrechtsen says in The Australian (thanks to Nicolei) about the way terrorists have been tried and sentenced in Australia could go double for the United States.
Last week, Australia’s first convicted terrorist since the world changed on September 11, 2001, was sentenced by a Perth court to nine years’ jail for conspiring to bomb the Israeli embassy in Canberra. But Jack Roche could be out on parole in three years.
That’s a short spell behind bars for a man with a terrorist dance-card to die for. His travels saw him meet up with Bali bomber Hambali, senior al-Qa’ida terrorists Mukhtar and Abu Hafs and, of course, Osama bin Laden. While in Afghanistan, Roche also dropped in for some explosives training at an al-Qa’ida terrorist camp near Kandahar. …
Then, last week, a NSW judge granted bail to Bilal Khazal pending his later trial for serious charges under Australia’s new terrorism laws. It was a surprising decision given that Khazal’s alleged links would warm the heart of any terrorist. He was named in a 2003 CIA report as a member of al-Qa’ida who received military training in Afghanistan in 1998. Documents from a Spanish court allege he has links with a Spanish al-Qa’ida operative. Late last year a Lebanese military tribunal sentenced Khazal and his brother, Maher, in absentia for donating money to an Islamic group involved in a series of bomb attacks in Lebanon. …
Judges, take note: terrorism is part of our lives. While defendants such as Khazal and Jamal are entitled to the presumption of innocence, the community is also entitled to be kept safe. If judges fail to recalibrate how they exercise their discretion on matters such as sentences and bail to take account of the devastating consequences of terrorism, then parliament may do so for them.