A notorious Islamic State fighter says he is sorry for inciting violence against Australians, but wants to be deported to a Muslim country.
Neil Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, was detained by Turkey a year ago on charges of joining ISIS in Syria, but now says he regrets his actions.
The 26-year-old Melbourne man said at his trial on Thursday ‘I am sorry for the trouble I have caused’ while being cross-examined via video link.
A notorious Islamic State fighter (pictured, left) says he is sorry for inciting violence against Australians, but wants to be deported to a Muslim country
Prakash (pictured) has admitted making propaganda videos and being responsible for ISIS in Australia, but says he was not ‘100 per cent responsible’ as he was forced to do it
The 26-year-old Melbourne man said at his trial on Thursday ‘I am sorry for the trouble I have caused’ while being cross-examined via video link (pictured is the courthouse in Turkey)
Prakash, born to a Fijian father and a Cambodian mother, converted to Islam in Cambodia in 2012 and later travelled to the Middle East to join ISIS.
He has admitted making propaganda videos and being responsible for ISIS in Australia, but says he was not ‘100 per cent responsible’ as he was forced to do it.
In his testimony, Prakash said he said received training from ISIS in their de-facto capital of Raqqa in Syria before moving north to the town of Kobane to fight Kurdish militia.
He was wounded in the fighting and then requested to be moved to another area where he did not have to fight.
Neil Prakash (pictured), also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, was detained by Turkey a year ago on charges of joining ISIS in Syria, but now says he regrets his actions
Prakash, born to a Fijian father and a Cambodian mother, converted to Islam in Cambodia in 2012 and later travelled to the Middle East to join ISIS (pictured is Prakash’s passport, cancelled in 2014)
‘But I went to Raqqa and was told I had to fight,’ he said, quoted by the Turkish-language Dogan news agency. ‘I was also made to speak in propaganda videos.
‘I decided to escape after seeing the true face’ of Islamic State, he added. ‘I very much regret joining the organisation,’ he said.
‘Can I say something … I was a new Muslim and didn’t have the knowledge so when they taught me I trusted them.
Prakash (pictured), born to a Fijian father and a Cambodian mother, converted to Islam in Cambodia in 2012 and later travelled to the Middle East to join ISIS
‘While I was [in Syria and Iraq] I learned to learn knowledge for myself and when I learned the truth I tried to leave.
‘It is something I think about all the time.
‘All I wanted to do was follow the religion.
‘I am regretful.
‘I am sorry for the trouble I have caused the world.’
Prakash denied being the Australian ‘representative’ of ISIS in Syria and asked to be released and deported to a Muslim country and not Australia.
The court decided to keep him in custody, Dogan news agency said.
Prakash is behind bars in the Gaziantep region of southern Turkey but his trial is being held in the neighbouring Kilis region.
The trial was adjourned to December 26 and Prakash was denied bail.
Australia last year had asked Turkey to extradite Prakash, who Canberra previously had reported as having been killed in a US airstrike in northern Iraq.
Prakash fought Kurdish militia in the town of Kobane near the Turkish border with Syria, causing refugees to flee the area (pictured)
Prakash said he said received training from ISIS in their de-facto capital of Raqqa (pictured) in Syria before moving north to the town of Kobane to fight Kurdish militia
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has called Prakash the senior Australian operative in ISIS and he has been implicated in terror plots on Australian soil.
His Australian passport was cancelled in October 2014 and federal police issued a warrant for his arrest through Interpol in August 2015.
Prakash was reportedly on a list of high-value IS recruiters targeted by the US in drone attacks in Iraq.
Prakash told the court he had spent his early life in Cambodia in a Buddhist family but had decided to become a Muslim after watching ISIS videos.
Turkey had been under fire from its allies for not taking a hard enough line against jihadists on its territory but stepped up arrests from 2015 after a string of terror attacks.
Prakash is behind bars in the Gaziantep (pictured) region of southern Turkey but his trial is being held in the neighbouring Kilis region