Dale Mills, Sydney
"This whole thing is about bashing Muslims for votes. Bash a Muslim, buy a vote." This was Sydney solicitor Chris Murphy's response to politicians and media commentators' outrage at the release on bail of his client, Bilal Khazal, on June 2, after Khazal was charged with collecting and making documents likely to facilitate a terrorist offence.
Khazal, a former Qantas baggage handler, is the first person in Australia to be charged with this offence. Murphy has accused the federal government of making it offensive to have views that it finds "objectionable".
Khazal has been charged with "inciting terrorism" because, as Murphy put it, "he accessed three textbooks available on the internet. He cut and pasted them and sent them to websites somewhere in the world. Police drew it to his attention and he removed it."
Murphy accused the government of conducting an "arrest one-terrorist-a-week program" in the lead-up to the federal election.
Khazal was granted $10,000 bail by Sydney magistrate Les Brennan. On June 4, the federal Director of Public Prosecutions lodged an appeal with the NSW Supreme Court against Khazal's bail. Murphy labelled this "appalling".
"My client was granted bail by a senior local court magistrate and I am unaware of any change in his circumstances or breach of his bail that would create any concern", Murphy wrote in a letter to the NSW Supreme Court.
The bail hearing will be held on June 16.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, June 9, 2004.
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