A Sunshine West man has been found guilty of preparing to fight and die on the frontline in war-torn Syria.
Last Tuesday, a Supreme Court jury convicted Amin Mohamed, 25, a New Zealand citizen originally from Somalia, of three charges of preparing to enter a foreign state to engage in hostile activities.
Crown prosecutor Lesley Taylor, QC, had told the jury the evidence against Mohamed had been overwhelming and his claims that he wanted to travel to Syria to do humanitarian work were all lies.
“The Crown says to you that the humanitarian motivation is inherently implausible and illogical,” Ms Taylor said.
“It doesn’t fly and it can be dismissed outright. There is no reasonable explanation of the circumstances consistent with the innocence of Amin Mohamed.
“What the Crown says is that the evidence shows that Mr Mohamed was planning to go to Syria to fight, to go to the front line and to have the chance to be martyred in the cause of Allah; that is, to die on the battlefield.
“The Crown does not have to prove what armed group Mr Mohamed intended on joining or the level of competence or organisation of any such group. It does not have to prove the complexities of the military situation in Syria. It is enough to prove that Mr Mohamed intended to engage in armed hostilities by joining the front line.”
Ms Taylor said Mohamed was using alleged Sydney-based recruiter Hamdi Al Qudsi to help get to Syria.
“We suggest to you that Mr Mohamed was not some naive innocent who thought that he was doing good works and may later have found out that he was destined for the front line.”
When Mohamed was stopped at Brisbane international airport on September 22, 2013, after his New Zealand passport had been cancelled, he claimed he was on his way to Denmark via Turkey to meet his fiancee, whom he had never met.
The Crown case against Mohamed hinged on intercepted phone calls recorded by police between him and Mr Al Qudsi about travelling to Syria to fight.
Mohamed, who worked as a customer services officer at Couriers Please in Port Melbourne, told the jury his only plan was to move to Syria and help people there as it was his destiny as part of his religion.
Defence barrister Julian McMahon said Mohamed never talked about beheading people or blowing people up during his conversations with Mr Al Qudsi. A pre-sentence hearing for Mohamed will be held on December 1.
The Age
