Kurdish-Australian man is spared jail despite admitting to being a member of a government-listed terrorist group as judge says he ‘was not a militant’
- Renas Lelikan, 40, pleaded guilty to membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
- Justice Lucy McCallum said in court that it was clear Lelikan ‘was not a militant’
- He was given three-year community correction order, 500 hours of service work
A Kurdish-Australian man who admitted to knowingly being a member of a government-listed terrorist organisation has been spared jail.
Renas Lelikan, 40, previously pleaded guilty to membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK while in Turkey, Iraq and elsewhere between April 2011 and August 2013.
Justice Lucy McCallum in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Tuesday said it was clear Lelikan ‘was not a militant’.
Renas Lelikan, 40, previously pleaded guilty to membership of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
‘His role was that of a passive, sympathetic observer who sought to chronicle their struggle,’ the judge said.
She characterised his behaviour as ‘towards the lowest order of seriousness’.
Ms McCallum convicted him and imposing a three-year community correction order including 500 hours of community service work.
Kurdish journalist Renas Lelikan (pictured, centre) arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney, Friday, May 3, 2019