Seventh man guilty in Vic terror trial

(AAP) - A seventh man has been found guilty of being part of a homegrown Australian terror cell which plotted to kill thousands, while another alleged member is to face a retrial.

A Victorian Supreme Court jury has found Amer Haddara guilty of being a member of a
terrorist organisation, the day after six others, including the group's leader Abdul
Nacer Benbrika, were convicted of the same offence.
All seven men will appeal their convictions, lawyer Rob Stary said outside court.
But the jury in Australia's biggest terror trial was unable to reach a verdict
against Shane Kent who was charged with being a member of the terror group.
Kent, 31, from Meadow Heights, was remanded in custody to be retried at a later
date. His lawyer John O'Sullivan indicated he would apply for bail later this week.
After failing to reach a verdict on Kent in 22 days of deliberations, the jury was
discharged by Supreme Court Justice Bernard Bongiorno, finally bringing an end to
one of the longest, and most drama filled, trials in Victorian history.
One hour before the jury reached its verdict on Tuesday, Mr O'Sullivan
unsuccessfully called for jurors to be discharged because of comments made on Monday
by federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland.
Mr McClelland's comments, in which he said the case was the most successful
terrorist prosecution Australia has seen, also drew strong criticism from Justice
Bongiorno who said the comments were unnecessary and had the "potential to cause
difficulties in this trial".
Outside court, Mr Stary, whose law firm represented several of the accused, said it
"beggared belief" that Mr McClelland made the comments while Kent and Haddara were
still being tried.
Another unsuccessful application for discharge was made early in the trial because
of the poor conditions in which the 12 accused were remanded - compared by Mr Stary
to those endured by prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the prosecutions showed Australians still faced a
terrorism risk, but authorities would remain vigilant.
"These convictions represent a clear message to those contemplating any act of
political violence, that we in Australia will not only not tolerate it, but the full
force of the law will be brought to bear as well," Mr Rudd told reporters in Sydney.
Victorian police chief Christine Nixon said police needed to act quickly and
arrested the men following raids on their Melbourne homes in November 2005 before
they could launch their attacks.
"The timing of the arrests was crucial, we needed to act before they did," Ms Nixon
told reporters.
The 115-day trial heard Benbrika, also known as Sheik Abu Bakr, told followers it
was "permissible to kill women, children and the aged" and had planned to bomb the
MCG on AFL grand final day in 2005.
He also told his followers the group needed to kill at least 1,000 non-believers to
make the Australian government withdraw soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.
One of the trial's key pieces of evidence came from Izzydeen Atik, who was arrested
with the 12 others who stood trial, but pleaded guilty and became a prosecution
witness.
Atik, who was sentenced to a minimum of four years and one month jail last year,
said he was told by Benbrika of a plot to blow up the MCG.
On Monday, jurors found Benbrika, 48, of Dallas, Aimen Joud, 23, of Hoppers
Crossing, Fadl Sayadi, 28, of Coburg, Abdullah Merhi, 22, of Fawkner, Ezzit Raad,
26, of Preston, and Ahmed Raad, 24, also of Fawkner guilty of being members of a
terrorist organisation.
Benbrika was also found guilty of leading the group.
Hany Taha, 33, of Hadfield, Bassam Raad, 26, of Brunswick, Majed Raad, 23, of
Coburg, and Shoue Hammoud, 28, of Hadfield were found not guilty.
After the jury delivered their verdict, Justice Bongiorno said they had done a
sterling job and expressed gratitude on behalf of the entire Australian community.
He excused the jurors from jury duty for 20 years.
Pre-sentence hearings for the seven guilty men will begin on November 18.