Nanny State Australia Gaols Muslim Author for Compiling Terrorist Handbook

[Exarch]

welcome to Australia, nanny state with no free press or free speech, now mind you wash behind your ears or nanny will get very angry with you for being so naughty!

'Do-it-yourself jihad' manual editor sentenced to 12 years' jail
KIM ARLINGTON

September 25, 2009 - 12:06PM
Twelve years' jail ... Belal Saadallah Khazaal. Photo: AFP

A former Sydney Qantas cleaner was today sentenced to a maximum 12-year jail term for compiling a "do-it-yourself jihad" manual.
Belal Saadallah Khazaal, 39, who has also worked as a journalist, was last year found guilty by a NSW Supreme Court jury of making a document connected with assistance in a terrorist act.
He is the first person in Australia to be convicted of the charge, which carries a maximum jail term of 15 years.
Ordering him to serve at least nine years behind bars, Justice Megan Latham said his crime was "not far from the worst category of the offence".
She said the "terrorism training manual" - which was published on a website endorsed by al-Qaeda - advocated "widespread and indiscriminate loss of life, serious injury and serious property damage" in countries considered to be enemies of Islam.
The court heard Khazaal, a journalist for the magazine Call to Islam, compiled a 110-page book that singled out world leaders, including former US president George Bush, as targets for assassination.
It also contained detailed instructions on how to shoot down planes, attack vehicles and set booby traps in rooms.
US international terrorism consultant Evan Kohlmann, who was called as a witness at Khazaal's trial, described the book as a "do-it-yourself jihad" manual, aimed at people who "don't have Osama bin Laden’s telephone number".
Khazaal compiled the book, Provisions on the Rules of Jihad,under a false name using a computer at his Lakemba home in September 2003.
He arranged for the manual, which consisted mostly of material written by others, to be posted on an extremist website containing publications by leaders of known terrorist organisations.
The Supreme Court heard that, in December 2003, a military court in Lebanon convicted Khazaal of terrorism-related offences, including forming a terrorist association for the purpose of committing crimes against people and property.
Convicted in his absence, he was sentenced by the court in Beirut to 10 years' jail with hard labour.
Following his sentence in the Supreme Court and with time already served, Khazaal will be eligible for parole in 2017.
Outside the court, Khazaal's lawyer, Adam Houda, said that his client would appeal.

source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/doity...0925-g5ji.html

who cares if he compiled a notebook on how to commit terrorist acts?
i certainly dont, mind you i was also against the Aus. gov censoring a lot of our films and books.

but gaoling someone for writing such a manual?
what about free speech?

oh, wait, australia doesnt have a bill of rights...

[Simon Cashmere]

welcome to Australia, nanny state with no free press or free speech, now mind you wash behind your ears or nanny will get very angry with you for being so naughty!

You might want to be a bit careful. Support for terror is pretty widely defined under Australian law. Indeed, I've just noticed you are actually in Australia, you are nuts to publicly criticise this.

No Australia doesn't have a bill of rights, and it doesn't have 'free speech' enshrined in law, only in tradition. He wouldn't be able to have pleaded the First Amendment in the states either, for inciting others to commit terrorist acts.

Posting recipes for bombs online and inviting people to blow us up, is not what we like to call 'free speech'.

He got a trial by jury. He had his bills paid by Legal Aid, being the taxpayer.

And now he's going to get some free accommodation at taxpayer expense. So the Courts and the jury have spoken, and the sentence is passed. On the other side, people just get their heads cut off on youtube. At least he got a fair trial.

He could get it overturned on appeal, but, I doubt it.

[RTW Fan]

welcome to Australia, nanny state with no free press or free speech, now mind you wash behind your ears or nanny will get very angry with you for being so naughty!

source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/doity...0925-g5ji.html

who cares if he compiled a notebook on how to commit terrorist acts?
i certainly dont, mind you i was also against the Aus. gov censoring a lot of our films and books.

but gaoling someone for writing such a manual?
what about free speech?

oh, wait, australia doesnt have a bill of rights...

Deportation would be better than jail. I think that the more immigration that we are taking in, the more the tendency seems to be against liberty, socialism and nationalism in Australia.

A bill of rights would just end up as a bunch of loyers and judges restraining our liberty of action even more.

You might want to be a bit careful. Support for terror is pretty widely defined under Australian law. Indeed, I've just noticed you are actually in Australia, you are nuts to publicly criticise this.

Stop taking the piss, you know absolutely nothing about Australia if you think that he is nuts to publicly criticise this for fear of his liberty.

[bushbush]

guess who writes terrorist handbooks? --- wannabe terrorist with no balls....

[Doctor]

guess who writes terrorist handbooks? --- wannabe terrorist with no balls....

Guess who gets jail sentences?---
wannabe terrorist with no balls.

[Carach]

welcome to Australia, nanny state with no free press or free speech, now mind you wash behind your ears or nanny will get very angry with you for being so naughty!

because condemning a guy thats publishing handbooks on how to commit ur own jihads doesnt fall under any pre-existing laws about inciting hatred, violence etc

Good on the australians. Shame on u for posting it with such a horrendous ulterior motive... i mean just read single lines and its clear the guy deserved prison:

The court heard Khazaal, a journalist for the magazine Call to Islam, compiled a 110-page book that singled out world leaders, including former US president George Bush, as targets for assassination.

the name of the magazine alone strikes me as rather....extreme, an 110 page book means it isnt just a passing joke. Singling out people for assassination is illegal in itself.

[Simon Cashmere]

I'm thinking Exarch might take a different view, if some jihadi blew his family out of the sky on an airplane with a bomb made from the instructions in Kazaal's jihad manual.

[Exarch]

I'm thinking Exarch might take a different view, if some jihadi blew his family out of the sky on an airplane with a bomb made from the instructions in Kazaal's jihad manual.

of course i would be, but i enjoy being able to choose to read what i want; i may probably never read 'the terrorist's handbook' or 'the poisoner's handbook' or 'how to be a guerilla fighter etc etc' but i certainly like having the choice to be able to read them should i wish to do so.

Australia, might i remind you has a long and illustrious history of censorship, banning such gems as 'The Catcher in the Rye' and 'I Spit on your Grave'-the latter being quite...interesting

mind you, i've been out of australia for months now, not yet due to head home until my work finishes.

i may or may not disagree with what a writer wants, but i do not believe in censorship, except if it is in the case of extreme promotion of hate speech; people are responsible for their actions and they shouldnt be able to claim 'ooh i wuz influenced by salinger/graham greene/walt disney etc, which made me want to be a terrorist/mass murderer/etc'.

[CtrlAltDe1337]

welcome to Australia, nanny state with no free press or free speech, now mind you wash behind your ears or nanny will get very angry with you for being so naughty!

source: http://www.smh.com.au/national/doity...0925-g5ji.html

who cares if he compiled a notebook on how to commit terrorist acts?
i certainly dont, mind you i was also against the Aus. gov censoring a lot of our films and books.

but gaoling someone for writing such a manual?
what about free speech?

oh, wait, australia doesnt have a bill of rights...

Hes a terrorist. That's not free speech, its treason and sedition against the government.

[Justice and Mercy]

Hes a terrorist. That's not free speech, its treason and sedition against the government.

This isn't treason.

Treason is an act, not the sharing of ideas.

The guy should probably be investigated, and if it's found that he's not involved in any kind of terror plot he should be left alone.

[Simon Cashmere]

This isn't treason.

Treason is an act, not the sharing of ideas.

The guy should probably be investigated, and if it's found that he's not involved in any kind of terror plot he should be left alone.

Says you. That's not for you to decide. Fortunately.

Our elected representatives feel differently.

Ever heard of a 'conspiracy?' - that's the sharing of ideas too.

People who prepare manuals that call for jihad, and tell people how to do it, as well as propose specific targets and then upload them onto jihadi websites - I'm quite OK with them going down.

In your Magical World of Tolerance, they can be free to continue to do that. Right here in the real world, we'll keep fighting the good fight and shutting these ****** down.

[Justice and Mercy]

Says you. That's not for you to decide. Fortunately.

To "decide"?

I can't "decide" the meaning of a word.

Ever heard of a 'conspiracy?' - that's the sharing of ideas too.

Conspiracy is the agreement to commit an act.

People who prepare manuals that call for jihad, and tell people how to do it, as well as propose specific targets and then upload them onto jihadi websites - I'm quite OK with them going down.

Again, investigate him. Probably repeatedly. Writing a book, however, isn't proper grounds for punishment.

[Simon Cashmere]

Again, investigate him. Probably repeatedly. Writing a book, however, isn't proper grounds for punishment.

Here, the people who count, say it is. And I'm glad they do.

[Exarch]

the sedition act was always controversial when it was implemented by the Howard gov

it means the gov can pick and choose whose a terry wrist and whose not

[Lord Rahl]

Exarch, you're basically advocating that a book that explains how to commit terrorist acts should be allowed. Perhaps you should consider what exactly that means. This isn't a work of fiction. This is a guide of how to kill people! Because of this there is no censorship here. He broke the law. Because he broke the law he is going to jail. Do you see the logical train-of-thought?

[Exarch]

Exarch, you're basically advocating a book that explains how to commit terrorist acts. Perhaps you should consider what exactly that means. This isn't a work of fiction. This is a guide of how to kill people! Because of this there is no censorship here. He broke the law.

if ppl really want to commit terrorism or what-have-you, they'll find a way to go about it,
if ppl are serious enough about wanting to make explosives etc etc, they could find out from local libraries or even the net.
simply banning a book and gaoling the author isnt going to change anything, and as much as i deplore terrorism or grievous bodily harm, the freedom to be able to read and absorb any sort of information is, to me, very very valuable.

the guy was stupid, sure, and probably a nut.
what if i were an author who started compiling these things for source material for a novel?

[Orko]

simply banning a book and gaoling the author isnt going to change anything, and as much as i deplore terrorism or grievous bodily harm, the freedom to be able to read and absorb any sort of information is, to me, very very valuable.

He wrote a damn book about how to commit terrorist acts, singling out people as targets of assasination! If that is not incitement to murder(illegal), then what the hell is it?

[Barry Goldwater]

There must be certain limits to freedoms in order to have and maintain an ordered society. Laws exist for a reason.

This guy broke the limit, he obviously broke the law, and he deserves to rot in jail.

[Lord Rahl]

if ppl really want to commit terrorism or what-have-you, they'll find a way to go about it,
if ppl are serious enough about wanting to make explosives etc etc, they could find out from local libraries or even the net.
simply banning a book and gaoling the author isnt going to change anything, and as much as i deplore terrorism or grievous bodily harm, the freedom to be able to read and absorb any sort of information is, to me, very very valuable.

the guy was stupid, sure, and probably a nut.
what if i were an author who started compiling these things for source material for a novel?

If this gets one more (wannabe) terrorist off the street then I'm all for it. Australia isn't banning just the book. They're getting this lunatic out of the public so he doesn't spread anymore of his terrorist sympathizing and support.

[Simon Cashmere]

If this gets one more (wannabe) terrorist off the street then I'm all for it. Australia isn't banning just the book. They're getting this lunatic out of the public so he doesn't spread anymore of his terrorist sympathizing and support.

One other thing, although he wasn't convicted of this, the Feds claimed that Kazaal [edited was involved in more significant things].

Depending on what you believe, the Feds might see this as Al Capone going under for tax evasion.