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Australia: Muslim cleric calls sentences for convicted jihadists “harsh,” warns of “alienation” of Muslim community

Feb 18, 2010 12:43 pm By Marisol Seibold

You do the crime, you do the time. Ikebal Patel’s objection to that simple concept defies logic. Wouldn’t law-abiding, moderate Australian Muslims who denounce “terrorism” want to see this sort of thing prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, rather than making excuses for the perpetrators?

Of course, the game here is blackmail: threatening the country with the “radicalization” of “young Islamic men” (that usual Tiny Minority of Extremists, mind you) over these prison sentences essentially says, “If we don’t get our way, members of our community will attack you while we deny responsibility and blame you for it.”

An update on this story. “Penalties are harsh, Muslim elders say,” by Jacqueline Maley, Rick Feneley, and Malcolm Brown for the Sydney Morning Herald (thanks to Slothy):

SYDNEY Muslims are ”angry and frustrated” at the severity of the sentences meted out to five men convicted of terrorism offences, say community elders who worry that the strict penalties will serve to radicalise more young Islamic men.

”The penalties, while they are warranted, they seem really harsh,” said the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ikebal Patel. ”There is a real possibility that this might alienate some members of the Muslim community … there’s a lot of frustration and anger.”

On Monday Justice Anthony Whealy of the Supreme Court sentenced the five men from Sydney’s west to jail terms of up to to 28 years.

Justice Whealy admitted there was insufficient evidence the men intended to kill, comments seized upon by Keysar Trad, chairman of the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia.

”Even if they had talked about things like this,” Mr Trad said, ”it is very likely that there would have been a very large number of points along the way where they would have reconsidered because they didn’t want to kill anybody.”

Mr Trad added: ”It seems our standard has changed from proving a crime beyond reasonable doubt to the possibility that they might have intended to commit a crime.”

But what of the stockpile of weapons, ammunition and potential explosives?

”That doesn’t translate into a wilful intent to commit an act of terrorism,” he said.

Nah. They were just avid collectors. And if you take the bomb ingredients out of their original packages, their value goes way down, you know.

Sheikh Khalil Chami of the Islamic Welfare Centre in Lakemba regularly visited the convicted terrorist conspirators, who range in age from 25 to 44, in jail. He is certain they were radicalised in Sydney.

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Filed Under: Australia


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