Australian court quashes terror conviction
An appeals court in Melbourne today quashed the conviction of a British-born Australian man accused of receiving funds from al-Qaida, ruling that some of the evidence against him was not admissible at his trial.
Joseph Thomas, a British-born Muslim convert nicknamed “Jihad Jack” by Australian media, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and was charged under tough Australian anti-terrorism laws passed in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
Previously, a jury had found Thomas (aged 33), guilty on charges that he accepted €2,700 and a plane ticket to Australia from an al-Qaida agent in Pakistan and that he held a false passport.
The jury rejected prosecutors’ claims that Thomas volunteered to set up a terror cell in Australia. The crimes carried a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison; he was sentenced to five years in February.
He appealed, and three Victorian Court of Appeal judges today ruled in favour of Thomas, quashing the convictions. He was expected to walk free from custody later today.
The court upheld Thomas’ argument that the record of his interview with Australian Federal Police in Pakistan should not have been allowed as evidence at the trial because of the circumstances under which it was conducted.
Thomas claims he took part in the interview without a lawyer present because he feared being sent to the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, if he did not co-operate.
“The interview was not voluntary because the applicant was not answering questions on the basis of free choice,” Thomas’ lawyer, Lex Lasry, told the court.
Thomas was arrested in Pakistan in January 2003 but was not interviewed by Australian police until March.
Earlier during the appeal, Thomas’ lawyers claimed he was subjected to “cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment” while in Pakistan. Government lawyers argued during the appeal that Thomas should not be freed, and sought instead for his sentence to be lengthened.
The judges agreed to consider the government’s request for the case to be reopened to hear new evidence, a move that leaves open the possibility of a new trial. The judges said they could hear further arguments later.
Thomas is one of a handful of Australians who have been tried under tough counterterrorism laws, which critics say have a lower standard of proof than the country’s other criminal laws and reduce suspects’ chances of a fair trial.
