Father of notorious ISIS sympathiser and Brothers 4 Life gang boss Bassam Hamzy dies after a long battle with illness – having hardly seen his killer son since he was thrown in Supermax
- Khaled Hamzy, the father of infamous Brothers 4 Life founder Bassam, has died
- Mr Hamzy was himself jailed in the 1990s for his role in a Sydney drug syndicate
- He had barely seen his infamous son in recent years who is in Australia’s top jail
The father of notorious criminal and Brothers 4 Life gang founder Bassam Hamzy has died.
Khaled Hamzy, himself jailed in the 1990s for his role in a Sydney drug syndicate, lost his long running battle with illness on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Hamzy had hardly been able to see his infamous son face-to-face in recent years, since he was placed inside Goulburn Supermax – Australia’s highest security prison.
But one of the rare exchanges between the pair in the last two decades came over a TV screen in the Downing Centre District Court in 2018, as they waved and smiled at each other.
Khaled Hamzy, the father of notorious criminal and Brothers 4 Life gang founder Bassam, died on Tuesday after a long battle with illness
Mr Hamzy had hardly been able to see his infamous son face-to-face in recent years, ever since he was placed inside Goulburn Supermax – Australia’s highest security prison
Outside court that day Mr Hamzy told Daily Mail Australia said it was ‘lovely’ to see a man most view as a ruthless killer and who has decades to go on his jail sentence.
‘I haven’t seen him for nearly 12 or 13 years,’ Mr Hamzy said.
‘The family’s the same, they are always knocked (back). They put in a request and it’s rejected… it’s really unjust, we are meant to be a democratic country.
‘His niece told him she wanted to come and visit him, but he said: “Look they are going to put me on box visits, it’s hard for me to see you or hug you or kiss you”.’
‘It was lovely to see him. The huge smile on his face – he was always a smiling boy, he had such a great sense of humour.’
Despite him being dubbed one of Australia’s worst inmates, Mr Hamzy defended his son’s long record of bad behaviour since being jailed.
A rare exchange between Mr Hamzy and Bassam came over a TV screen at the Downing Centre Local Court in 2018 (pictured). Mr Hamzy said it was ‘lovely’ to see his son who is not allowed to have family visitors
A young Bassam Hamzy (right) sits on the couch with one of his uncles, years before he wound up in Goulburn Supermax
He claimed that his son is regularly targeted in prison and understandably reacts like any ‘lion’ would when threatened.
‘He has nothing now, so of course he is always going to react and he’s been in jail for a long time so it changes you I am sure,’ Mr Hamzy said.
‘But they try to make him out to be like a monster. They are always pushing him into a corner and if you push a lion into a corner they will attack you.’