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Abdul Nacer Benbrika (Arabic: عبد الناصر بن بريكة) (born in Algeria c. 1960), 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 and a member of a terrorist organisation. Benbrika was one of 17 men arrested in the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne in November 2005, charged with being members of a terrorist organisation and of planning terrorist attacks on targets within Australia. Benbrika is alleged to be the spiritual leader of the group. All 17 men pleaded not guilty. On 15 September 2008 Benbrika was found guilty as charged and subsequently sentenced. Benbrika completed his sentence on 5 November 2020, but was kept in jail under an interim order from the Victorian Supreme Court requested by the Federal Government's Department of Home Affairs who applied to the court to keep him detained. On 1 November 2023, Benbrika won his High Court bid to restore his Australian citizenship, which was cancelled in 2020, and on 19 December 2023 the Victorian Supreme Court, granted his release under a 12 month extended supervision order. Personal background Benbrika was born in Algeria: various sources give his age as 45 or 46 as of November 2005. He was trained as an aircraft engineer. He arrived in Australia in May 1989 on a one-month visitor's permit, on which he twice gained extensions, and settled in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, an area with a large Muslim population. After his permit expired in 1990 he became a prohibited non-citizen, then spent the next six years fighting through the Immigration Review Tribunal appeals process, for the right to stay. During his hearings he told the tribunal of his "love of the Australian lifestyle". In 1992, Benbrika married a Lebanese woman who was an Australian citizen, with whom he had seven children. He was granted Australian residence in 1996 and became a citizen in 1998, although he is reported to have retained his Algerian citizenship as well. He had been on government welfare benefits for some years and this has become a topic of debate. Standing in the Muslim community His teachings became increasingly politicised after the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. This came at a time when the Muslim community was under intense scrutiny from the Australian government and media outlets. Benbrika was said to have been a teacher and a deputy-leader at the Islamic Information & Support Centre of Australia led by Mohammed Omran who, as Sheikh Abu Ayman, also led the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association. Omran has denied that he had close ties with Benbrika. Benbrika began teaching smaller groups on a less formal basis after he refused the requests of more formal organisations that he tone down his teachings. Islamic Council of Victoria board member Waleed Aly said Benbrika's group was "a splinter of a splinter of a splinter. Most Muslims had never heard of him until he appeared on the ABC's [7.30 Report]." Waleed Aly was quoted as saying. "... He formed his own group with a handful of young men who he calls his students." Benbrika's students included a number of those arrested along with him in November, one of whom is alleged to have undergone military training in Afghanistan. Terrorism Benbrika came to public attention when he told an Australian ABC interviewer: "Osama bin Laden, he is a great man. Osama bin Laden was a great man before 11 September, which they said he did it, until now nobody knows who did it." He was quoted as defending Muslims fighting against coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and said anyone who fought in the name of God would be forgiven their sins. "According to my religion, jihad is a part of my religion and what you have to understand is that anyone who fights for the sake of Allah, when he dies, the first drop of blood that comes from him out all his sin will be forgiven." During 2004 and 2005 Australian security agencies had Benbrika under surveillance as a possible instigator of terrorist acts. In March his passport was withdrawn on advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and ASIO agents raided his Melbourne home in June. In November, according to media reports, ASIO became convinced that Benbrika's group, and an affiliated group in Sydney, was actively planning a terrorist attack. It was at this time that the federal government was introducing new anti-terrorism legislation, the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005. It is said that on the advice of ASIO, the Australian Parliament amended the law relating to terrorism, broadening the definition of planning 'a' terrorist act. A few days later police raids in Sydney and Melbourne arrested Benbrika and 16 other men, one of whom was shot after allegedly opening fire on police in Sydney. It has also been said that the timing of the arrests was planned to coincide with the new laws. Benbrika and his 12 fellow defendants (including Shane Kent, Fadal Sayadi, Ahmed Raad, Amer Haddara, Abdulla Merhi, Ezzit Raad, Hany Taha and Aimen Joud) appeared in a Melbourne magistrates' court the day after their arrest. All are of Muslim immigrant backgrounds except Kent, who is a convert. Benbrika was charged with "directing the activities of a terrorist organisation." He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody. Several of his fellow defendants applied for bail on numerous occasions during their pre-trial remand detention in the maximum security Acacia Unit of Barwon Prison, from November 2005 until their trial began in February 2008. Benbrika also had links to the defendants in the 2005 Sydney terrorism plot, Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Mohamed Ali Elomar, Abdul Rakib Hasan and Mohammed Omar Jamal. Government and police officials said the group was stockpiling chemicals that could have been used to make explosives, but they had not been charged with this offence. According to the Melbourne Herald Sun, the group was "plotting a terrorist spectacular on the scale of the al-Qaeda attacks on London and Madrid." The explosive device they were assembling was called the "Mother of Satan" by the jihadists. Victorian police commissioner Christine Nixon said she believed the arrests, which came after 16 months of police surveillance, had "seriously disrupted the activities of a group intent on carrying out a terrorist attack". The raids were planned after new information was obtained, she said. She said although the group had no known specific target, "We were concerned that the attack was imminent, and we believe that we have sufficient evidence that will go before the courts to show that." In an interview before his arrest, Benbrika denied he was involved in terrorist activities. "I am not involved in anything here," he said. "I am teaching my brothers here the Koran and the Sunnah, and I am trying my best to keep myself, my family, my kids and the Muslims close to th.... Discover the Josh Taaffe popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Josh Taaffe books.