Summary

Joseph Saadieh, aged 24, was charged with being a member of Islamic State for the period 12 June 2018 to 18 June 2021. After being granted conditional bail by a single Supreme Court judge, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions applied to the Court of Criminal Appeal for a detention order.

The Court of Criminal Appeal refused the detention application and confirmed the bail conditions. House arrest. Daily reporting. Prohibition from contacting 34 named individuals associated with terrorism-related offending.

The case documents the extent of AFP surveillance of Saadieh over approximately three years before his arrest, the sophistication of bomb-making instructions found in his possession, and the network of convicted terrorists with whom he maintained contact. The Court accepted that Saadieh had been under "some form of continual surveillance between 2018 and 2021" and that his arrest in June 2021 was not prompted by imminent planning of a terrorist act.

Key Facts

Saadieh was arrested on 18 June 2021 and charged with one count of being a member of a terrorist organisation (Islamic State) contrary to section 102.3(1) of the Criminal Code. Maximum penalty: 10 years imprisonment. The Crown case was largely circumstantial, based on material located on Saadieh's mobile devices and information gathered during approximately three years of AFP surveillance. Listening devices. Tracking devices. Telephone intercepts. Covert searches.

The most concerning evidence was material found on Saadieh's devices, particularly a USB stick seized during a delayed notification search warrant executed on his vehicle on 27 February 2021. The USB contained 26 files relating to explosives. Specific ingredients and recipes to make explosive material capable of inflicting death and destroying property.

Joint Counter Terrorism Team expert analysis concluded "all processes contained within the images are generally viable" and could be manufactured "with little knowledge of chemistry or explosives" and that "all precursor materials are generally available in Australia."

Screenshots of this bomb-making material were taken on 25 March 2021. Three months before Saadieh's arrest.

Saadieh's devices also contained extensive Islamic State propaganda. Dabiq magazines. Sermons by Anwar Al-Awlaki (radical Islamic cleric killed by US drone in 2011). Material from Hayat Media Centre (ISIS media outlet) praising previous terror attacks and encouraging further attacks. ISIS-specific Anasheed (traditional chants used to promote violent jihad). A photo of Saadieh using the "one finger gesture" commonly associated with ISIS, though an Islamic expert testified this gesture had broader meaning in Islam and had been "appropriated" by ISIS.

The Crown relied on a text conversation from 2 October 2018 in which Saadieh stated: "if you attack Dawla [the State/ISIS]. I take offence to it... Don't dare speak a word against them... You don't know how much I love them." In this conversation, Saadieh also stated: "I gave Bay'a [pledge of allegiance]."

But there was dispute about the meaning and significance of Bay'ah. The defense expert explained that Bay'ah can have multiple meanings in Islam including spiritual pledge to a teacher for self-betterment, and that "being infatuated with the idea of Bay'a does not amount to Bay'a."

Saadieh maintained "close associations" with several convicted terrorists: Radwan Dakkak (charged December 2020 with associating with terrorist organisations, remanded at Goulburn); Yousef Uweinat (charged December 2019 with ISIS membership, remanded at Goulburn); Isaac El-Matari (charged July 2019 with terrorism preparation and ISIS membership, pleaded guilty); and Moudasser Taleb (convicted 2019 of preparing foreign incursion, subsequently found with firearm in April 2021).

The Court accepted these individuals were on prohibited contact lists or had served sentences.

On 27 February 2021, Saadieh was recorded driving around the Holocaust Memorial and Jewish and Christian sections at Rookwood Cemetery stating "hellfire for all of you."

The Crown case included material showing Saadieh used Instagram accounts including one entitled "grandsonsofthesahabah"—a phrase the Crown alleged referenced quotes by Osama Bin Laden and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi relating to taking up arms. But the defense expert explained "Sahabah" refers to Companions of the Prophet and is "equivalent of what the disciples of Jesus are in the Christian faith," used by all Muslims to recognize ancestors.

Sentence

This was not a sentencing decision but a bail application. The Court of Criminal Appeal (Bathurst CJ, Beech-Jones CJ at CL, and Adamson J) refused the DPP's detention application and confirmed the bail conditions imposed by Hamill J. The Court found "exceptional circumstances" justifying bail based on the disproportionality between the likely period on remand (approximately 2 years until trial in 2023) and the potential sentence if convicted. The Court noted that the objective seriousness of Saadieh's alleged offending was "probably" less than comparable cases that resulted in non-parole periods around 2 years 3 months.

The bail conditions: house arrest at his parents' residence; daily reporting to police; removal of the door to his bedroom so parents could observe him at all times; prohibition from internet access; prohibition from contacting 34 named individuals.

The Court found the risk of Saadieh committing serious offences while on bail was "relatively low" and could be ameliorated by these conditions. Despite approximately three years of surveillance, there was "no suggestion in the material that his arrest in June 2021 was prompted by any particular concern that he was planning any form of terrorist act." If there had been such concern, "the charges laid would have reflected that."

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