Source : Perth Now news
Details of an alleged Australian ISIS support network have surfaced in a Melbourne court, as a 65-year-old man accused of sharing thousands of extremist files seeks bail.
Mohamed Musse Bakit, 65, was arrested and charged by the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) after allegedly distributing thousands of files of extremist material online.
Mr Bakit appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday where he is seeking to be released on bail to his home in Carlton.
Police allege Mr Bakit was a pledged member of Islamic State between December 2018 and April 2020, and was the “most active contributor” to a WhatsApp group where he posted extremist material including propaganda, execution videos and content “glorifying” the terror organisation.
During the hearing, Australian Federal Police detective senior constable Katharine Dillon said the WhatsApp group was alleged to have been created in 2014 by Queenslander Dr Omar Elamin and the “majority” of members were from Queensland.
Dr Elamin, the court was told, was believed to have travelled to Libya in 2016 to join Islamic State.
No charges have been laid against Dr Elamin and he is believed to still be overseas.
Constable Dillion said there was an ongoing effort by the JCTT to contact alleged members of the WhatsApp group in Queensland, whom she described as “sympathisers or supporters” with Islamic State as opposed to avowed members.
No charges have been laid against any other members of the group, the court was told.
The officer said Mr Bakit first came to the attention of authorities in December 2020 when his phone and other devices were searched by the Australian Border force before he boarded a flight to Egypt.
It’s alleged officers found a recording of a preacher “advocating jihad” on a USB, with the accused man explaining he’d received the USB from a person at the Kuraby Mosque in Queensland.
On his return to Australia in June the following year, it’s alleged he acknowledged the lectures could be seen as extremist, and said he’d been given them by a “doctor in Brisbane”.
Mr Bakit allegedly said he was a participant in a WhatsApp group around the “plight of Sunni Muslims” and supported ISIS “insofar as it opposed” the Assad regime in Syria, Constable Dillion said.
Police allege Mr Bakit and Dr Elamin remained in contact between 2014 and 2017, with the accused man replying to a post in the WhatsApp group about Dr Elamin’s travel to Libya with “Allah is the greatest” and “Omar has won”.
“These communications demonstrate support for Elamin and his efforts overseas,” Constable Dillion alleged.
It’s alleged Mr Bakit was a prolific poster in the WhatsApp group, sharing almost 10,000 images, videos, audio recordings and documents between 2016 and 2019.
These allegedly included official ISIS propaganda and publications, sermons from extremist preachers and videos of the execution of hostages and suicide bombings.
Within the group, it’s alleged other’s praised Mr Bakit as “our esteemed brother” and “the voice that shouts the truth”.
During a raid on his home in July 2024, extremist material was allegedly found on his phone, including the infamous 2004 beheading of United States national Nicholas Bird.
Under cross-examination from Mr Bakit’s barrister Michael McGrath, Constable Dillion confirmed Mr Bakit had denied ever pledging allegiance to Islamic State or being a member.
She agreed there was no evidence Mr Bakit had shared any extremist material in the past eight years or that she could say when the material was allegedly downloaded on his phone.
Constable Dillion also agreed Mr Bakit had remained “at liberty” in the community, with no further alleged offences, since July 2024 while also voluntarily participating in two police interviews.
Arguing in support of bail, Mr McGrath said there were “triable issues” with each of the charges his client is facing, including whether he’d actually pledged allegiance to Islamic State as opposed to sharing a “pro forma” pledge within a group of like-minded people.
He said Mr Bakit had suffered serious and permanent disability requiring care following a stroke in 2023 and had other health conditions including heart disease.
Deputy Chief Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said he would hand down his decision on bail next week.
