A Sri Lankan university student in Sydney has been released on bail four weeks after being charged with plotting to kill former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Mohamed Kamer Nizamdeen, 25, was arrested in August after a notepad was found allegedly containing detailed Islamist terror plans to kill Mr Turnbull, his former Liberal deputy Julie Bishop and former speaker Bronwyn Bishop.
The University of New South Wales student and IT worker, who is also the nephew of a Sri Lankan cabinet minister, was also accused of plotting to blow up the Opera House and major Sydney train stations.
Director of Public Prosecutions solicitor Soo Choi, however, conceded, the evidence contained in the notebook was weak and that no extremist material was found in the document seized from his inner-city Zetland home.
A Sri Lankan university student in Sydney charged with plotting to kill former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has been released on bail
Mohamed Kamer Nizamdeen, 25, was arrested in August after a notepad was found allegedly containing detailed plans to kill Mr Turnbull, his former Liberal deputy Julie Bishop
‘The prosecution has become aware that an expert handwriting examiner found an inconclusive result on the relevant entries contained in the notebook,’ she told Central Local Court in Sydney today, which the ABC covered.
‘Without a conclusive expert opinion suggesting the defendant was the relevant author, evidence for the charge has been significantly weakened.’
Magistrate Robert Williams acknowledged the prosecution had raised doubts about the notepad, found by a fellow UNSW student, and granted Nizamdeen bail as he appeared via video link from the Goulburn Supermax prison.
Director of Public Prosecutions solicitor Soo Choi, however, conceded, the evidence contained in the notebook, about the alleged plot to kill Malcolm Turnbull (pictured), was weak
Nizamdeen had relatives in court on Friday and he is the nephew of Sri Lanka’s Sports and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha (pictured)
Nizamdeen had relatives in court on Friday and he is the nephew of Sri Lanka’s Sports and Local Government Minister Faiszer Musthapha.
The accused’s defence lawyer Moustafa Kheir, from Birchgrove Legal, tweeted the verdict shortly after appearing in court on his behalf.
‘Bail granted to my client Mohamad Nizamdeen today,’ he said.
‘Police case is hopeless, as notes in question are not his.
‘We will continue to seek justice until my client is fully exonerated.’
Last week, hundreds of people gathered in his home city of Colombo in Sri Lanka to protest his arrest and proclaim his innocence.
Last week, hundreds of people gathered in his hometown of Colombo in Sri Lanka to protest his arrest and proclaim his innocence
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.