The 2005 Sydney terrorism plot concerned a group of five men arrested in 2005 on charges of planning an act of terrorism targeting

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's most populous city and the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. The group was found guilty on 16 October 2009 and were sentenced on 15 February 2010 for terms up to 28 years.

Charges

Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Mohamed Ali Elomar, Abdul Rakib Hasan, and Mohammed Omar Jamal were arrested in various neighbourhoods of Sydney and were tried in the

New South Wales Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court ...

over a terror-related plot they planned between July 2004 and November 2005. Each pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiring to commit a terrorist act or acts. The final cost of the trial is expected to be more than A$10 million. The

Crown Prosecutor Crown prosecutor is the title given in a number of jurisdictions to the state prosecutor, the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual in a criminal trial. The title is commonly used in Commonwealth realms. Examples * ...

claimed that the men were motivated by a belief that

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

was under attack. The five allegedly had links to

Abdul Nacer Benbrika Abdul Nacer Benbrika () (born in Algeria ), also known as Abu Bakr (Arabic: أبو بكر), is a convicted criminal, who served a custodial sentence of fifteen years, with a non-parole period of twelve years, for intentionally being the leader ...

, who is under arrest in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. Police searches of their homes discovered instructions on bomb-making, 28,000 rounds of ammunition (including 11,000 7.62×39mm), 12 rifles, militant Islamist literature, and footage of beheadings carried out by Islamists, and also of aircraft crashing into the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

11 September 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. According to the prosecution, the men purchased explosive chemicals and guns between July 2004 and November 2005.

Trial

The men were put on trial late in 2008. Closing arguments were heard on 28 July 2009. The trial took place in a specially-built high-security court building in Sydney. Prosecutor Richard Maidment claimed that the five men wanted "violent

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

which involved the application of extreme force and violence, including the killing of those who did not share the fundamentalist... extremist, beliefs". A

mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

was almost declared when the defence asked for the jury to be dismissed; it was discovered that a young woman, who was a relative of one of the accused, had been coming to court and reportedly writing down descriptions of the jurors. However, the jurors said it would not affect their deliberations and the judge allowed the trial to continue.

Verdict and sentencing

The five were found guilty on 16 October 2009. The trial was one of Australia's longest and involved approximately 300 witnesses and 3,000 exhibits, including 18 hours of telephone intercepts and 30 days of surveillance tapes, which has overtaken the record previously held by the liquidation of Bell Group. Outside the court, supporters of the five men shouted in protest and anger after they watched the ruling on an outdoor screen. The perpetrators were jailed on 15 February 2010 for terms ranging from 23 to 28 years, as follows: *Khaled Cheikho 27 years *Moustafa Cheikho 26 years *Mohamed Ali Elomar 28 years *Abdul Rakib Hasan 26 years *Mohammed Omar Jamal 23 years In December 2014 before the

New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal The New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal, part of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, is the highest court for criminal law, criminal matters and has appellate jurisdiction in the Australian States and territories of Australia, State of Ne ...

, all five men lost an

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

against both their conviction and their sentences.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sydney Terrorism Plot Failed terrorist attempts in Oceania Islamic terrorism in Australia Terrorist incidents in Oceania in 2005 Sydney Terrorism Plot, 2005 Terrorist incidents in Australia Islam in Sydney 2005 crimes in Australia Terrorist incidents in Australia in the 2000s

Charges

Trial

Verdict and sentencing

See also

References