Handbag jihadi: Australian who travelled to Syria to fight with al-Qaeda is back behind bars accused of breaching strict control orders by importing fake luxury goods and flogging them on Facebook
- Mehmet Biber was jailed in 2018 for entering Syria to fight with Jabhat al-Nusra
- The violent terror group falls under the control of the al-Qaeda network
- His release is subject to conditions restricting his movements and activities
- The 29-year-old was arrested for selling counterfeit goods on Facebook
An Australian Jihadi fighter jailed for flying to Syria to join an Islamic terror group is back in prison after allegedly failing to notify police he was importing fake luxury handbags and selling them online.
Mehmet Biber, 29, was sentenced to a minimum of two-and-a-half years in 2018 after pleading guilty to entering a foreign state intending hostile activity.
The Sydney resident had tight restrictions placed on his movements and activities by the Australian Federal Police as a condition of his release.
Part of Biber’s control orders forbid him from undertaking paid work without first notifying the police.
The alleged breach means he could face a further five years in prison if found guilty.
Mehmet Biber, 29 (pictured), was sentenced to a minimum of two-and-a-half years in 2018 after pleading guilty to entering a foreign state intending hostile activity
He is accused of importing counterfeit handbags and selling them on Facebook Marketplace for a profit, a direct breach of his Control Order which forbids undertaking paid work without first notifying the police
Biber, who was the first Australian citizen sentenced under foreign incursion laws, is accused of importing counterfeit handbags and selling them on Facebook Marketplace for a profit.
Counter-terrorism expert Professor Greg Barton told Channel 10 News that although the breach may seem innocuous, ‘looking at his case history he very quickly could have been in trouble with more serious actions’.
He added that the concern is not about him selling goods on Facebook Marketplace, but reconnecting with extremists online and exposing him to further radicalisation.
The 29-year-old was just 20 when he flew to Syria via Turkey in 2013 to join the violent terror group Jabhat al-Nusra which fell under the control of the al-Qaeda network.
Biber (pictured) was the first Australian citizen sentenced under foreign incursion laws
The 29-year-old was just 20 when he flew to Syria via Turkey in 2013 to join the violent terror group Jabha al-Nusra
Biber returned to Sydney just six months later in February 2014.
He was arrested and sentenced to four years and nine months with a non-parole period of two and a half years.
Although the charge carried a maximum sentence of 20 years, the judge took Biber’s youth and naivety at the time of the trip into account as mitigating factors.
Biber’s bail has been formally refused was and he will return to Parramatta Local Court on May 4.
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