Two men will stand trial after pleading not guilty to plotting a Christmas Day terror attack, allegedly targeting key Melbourne landmarks and using bomb-making instructions from an al-Qaeda magazine.
Hamza Abbas, 22, his brother Ibrahim Abbas, 23, Ahmed Mohamed, 24, and Abdullah Chaarani, 26 have faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court this week for a committal hearing to determine if they should stand trial.
On Wednesday, both Mohamed and Chaarani denied the charges and were ordered to face the Supreme Court of Victoria next week for an administrative hearing before the trial.
Friends and family (pictured) of four young men accused of plotting a Christmas Day 2016 terrorist attack in Melbourne refused to stand for a magistrate during a preliminary court hearing on Wednesday
Almost a dozen supporters (pictured) of Hamza Abbas, 22, his brother Ibrahim Abbas, 23, Ahmed Mohamed, 24, and Abdullah Chaarani, 26, disobeyed protocol on Tuesday when they refused to stand for Magistrate Peter Mealy as he entered or left the court room
CCTV footage was played to the court showing Mohamed and Hamza Abbas purchasing hydrogen peroxide from the Campbellfield Chemist Warehouse on December 2.
The four men were also shown having a meeting on the steps of Federation Square on December 20.
A lawyer acting for Hamza Abbas argued there was no evidence linking him to the plots and it was only ‘conjecture’ that he was part of the alleged plans with the other three.
However, prosecutor Patrick Doyle argued Hamza Abbas had been brought ‘into the fold’ of the other men by the time he attended Chemist Warehouse with Ibrahim Abbas and met the others at Federation Square.
Mr Doyle also said images from al-Qaeda magazine, Inspire, were found on Chaarani and Mohamed’s mobile phones.
The magazine had instructions on how to prepare an ‘iron pipe’ explosive, which the four men were following, he added.
Policemen (pictured) guard Melbourne Magistrates Court as the four men faced terrorist plot charges
Mr Doyle said in doing so, they purchased Ramset power load cartridges, galvanised pipe elbows and other galvanised materials from Bunnings.
Also on Wednesday, magistrate Peter Mealy reprimanded a group of women in court supporting the men.
He scolded the women, wearing burqas, for failing to show ‘simple acts of courtesy’ as a ‘sign of respect for the law and justice’ by standing as requested when he entered the room, as is court protocol.
Most of the women stood when asked twice to do so.
‘It is sad that the simple act of failing to stand demonstrates views that are not consistent with the general views of respect in the community,’ Mr Mealy said.
The men are accused of plotting a terrorist attack on Flinders Street Station, Federation Square and St Paul’s Cathedral on Christmas Day 2016, using an improvised explosive device and other weapons.
The court has previously been told that the men, who were arrested during raids by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in Melbourne’s north on December 22, were allegedly found with a mixture made of sparklers and match heads.
The committal hearing continues on Thursday.
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