An Islamic religious guild in breach of Australian law allegedly detained a man who was serving court papers on the grounds of their illegal bush compound, a court has heard today.
The grounds in Colo, a small town to the north-west of Sydney, are used as a place of worship.
The religious owners have been ordered to knock down the movable buildings, fences and boat ramp on the site by the Land and Environment Court – orders which the religious men are ignoring.
A court employee named Frank Hoare had arrived on the grounds to serve the Muslim sect legal documents but claimed through an affidavit filed in court today that he was instead detained for 30 minutes.
A conflict between council officers and Dr Kara-Ali and an unidentified man was caught on dash cam, allegedly showing an an unidentified member of the guild spitting at officers
An Islamic religious guild in breach of Australian law allegedly detained a man who was serving court papers
The religious owners have been ordered to knock down the movable buildings, fences and boat ramp on the site
The affidavit of Frank Hoare told court that Mr Hoare was approached by leader of the Diwan Al Dawla guild Mustapha Kara-Ali and his brother Diaa Kara-Ali on the property.
‘Get off this sacred land. You are an infidel, a man of the cross and a thief,’ one of the men allegedly told him.
The affidavit of Frank Hoare then claimed that Mustapha Kara-Ali padlocked the front gate, locking Mr Hoare inside the compound, ABC News reports.
He was then allegedly forced to sit in his car as Diaa Kara-Ali rode a horse around another paddock and Mustapha Kara-Ali walked to the end of the property and started praying.
‘I did not have any reception on my mobile phone,’ the affidavit stated.
‘I honked my horn to passing traffic to no avail.
The 12 hectares is home to about 30 Arabian horses which the group intends to use to help troubled Muslim youth
‘I continued to sit in my car and … [Diaa] kept riding his horse around the paddock, which would be described as an intimidatory [sic] manner.’
After some time an elderly man reportedly threw Mr Hoare’s legal papers into the front seat of his car. The religious men eventually unlocked the gate and Mr Hoare was able to drive away.
This is not the first bizarre confrontation between members of the religious guild and council authorities.
Council officers back in August attempted to deliver legal documents to the compound, whereby dashcam footage showed them being spat on and having a rock hurled at them by an unidentified member of the guild.
Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali and Diaa Kara-Ali were found last month to be in contempt of court by Hawkesbury City Council after continuing to build on their Colo religious site.
Dr Kari-Ali is the founder of the Diwan Al Dawla guild which bought the Colo property for $670,000 in May last year and began building what it calls the Southern Chariot religious site.
The 12 hectares is home to about 30 Arabian horses which the group intends to use to help troubled Muslim youth, particularly from western Sydney, engage with God.
A shed and two demountable buildings have been erected on the site and a barn is being built. There is also a grove of young trees including olives, figs and walnuts.
Both Dr Mustapha and Diaa Kara-Ali have refused to take part in the court proceedings so far and do not recognise Australian law as legitimate.
Dr Kara-Ali considers any government symbol which incorporates a version of a Christian cross – including the Southern Cross and the Cross of St George – to be an affront to Islam.
He believes any authority which uses such a symbol – such as the police and the courts – to be religious, rather than secular.
A shed and two demountable buildings have been erected on the site and a barn is being built