Ray Fulcher, Melbourne
Joseph "Jack" Thomas is not a terrorist. That was the verdict of a Victorian Supreme Court jury on February 26. He was, however, found guilty on two other charges, one of which carries a potential sentence of 25 years' imprisonment.
The 32-year-old chef is the first person to be convicted under Australia's draconian new "anti-terrorism" laws. In 2001, Thomas had travelled to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban forces against their Northern Alliance warlord rivals. While there, he received military training in an al Qaeda-run camp.
The prosecution pursued four charges against Thomas, three of which were based solely on an 82-minute interview with him conducted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Pakistan in March 2003, two months after he was arrested at Karachi airport as he was about to board a flight to Australia.
Thomas was released from Pakistani custody and returned to Australia on June 6, 2003. Seventeen months later, he was arrested in melodramatic fashion by the AFP.
The prosecution claimed that Thomas had agreed to return to Australia as an al Qaeda "sleeper". The jury was not convinced and acquitted Thomas of being an agent of al Qaeda.
They did, however, find that he had received "support" from al Qaeda and had falsified his passport. The "support" amounted to a plane ticket home to Australia and US$3500 for one year's support to his family and for having to wait so long in Pakistan before returning home.
Evidence presented at trial by the prosecution showed that Thomas had cooperated extensively with Pakistani intelligence, the AFP and ASIO. This cooperation led to several al Qaeda safe houses in Pakistan being raided.
The defence argued, and the judge accepted, that this had put Thomas's life in peril. Despite this, the prosecution invited the sentencing judge not to give much weight to this cooperation when sentencing Thomas, but to focus on the "general deterrence value" of a significant custodial sentence.
Thomas will appeal the conviction. The case was adjourned until March 31 when Justice Philip Cummins will hand down a sentence.
From Green Left Weekly, March 8, 2006.
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