Summary
Isaac El Matari declared himself "General Commander for the Australia State" of Islamic State. Garling J sentenced him to 7 years and 4 months for terrorism preparation and planning to travel to Afghanistan via Pakistan to engage in hostile activities with ISIS.
The most damning evidence was a three-page letter written in prison. It outlined plans for an ISIS insurgency in Australia modelled on operations in the Philippines and Caucasus.
But Justice Garling found the terrorism offence fell toward the lower end of the range. El Matari "did a lot of talking and took little action. He had only the most generalised of plans. He had no weapons, nor had he attempted to acquire them. He had no followers. He had not persuaded anyone to his cause in Australia."
Despite this, the judge found him at high risk of further violent extremism offending.
Key Facts
Born March 1999. Arrested at his home in Greenacre on 2 July 2019, aged 20. Pleaded guilty to three offences: doing acts in preparation for terrorist acts in Australia on behalf of Islamic State (July 2018 to September 2019); preparing to engage in foreign incursion to Afghanistan via Pakistan (January to July 2019); and membership of Islamic State (January to September 2019), taken into account on sentencing.
El Matari had tried before. In 2017, he was arrested in Tripoli, Lebanon for attempting to join ISIS in Syria via Turkey. Sentenced to one year. Released after nine months in June 2018. Returned to Australia.
Between his return and his arrest in July 2019, El Matari engaged in numerous recorded conversations about establishing an ISIS insurgency in Australia. On 2 May 2019, he described using encrypted communications to contact individuals in Lebanon to facilitate sending firearms to Australia "so that the brothers would start a STATE out in the bush here like the boys in Marawi did." The 2017 siege by ISIS-affiliated militants in Marawi, Philippines. He claimed contacts in Lebanon, Indonesia, and Pakistan who could facilitate firearms importation, training, and false documentation.
The most damning evidence was a three-page letter El Matari wrote to fellow inmate Tukiterangi Lawrence on 20 September 2019 after his arrest. It described how to establish a "small enclosed battalion to exploit the landscape, taking to remote regional areas to plan the orchestration of attacks, whilst cells living amongst the civilian population finance, recruit and resupply the mujahideen." The letter referenced successful tactics used by "brothers in the Caucus" and "brothers in the Philippines" and offered to facilitate firearms, munitions, explosives, bomb manufacturing training, suicide vest manufacture, false documents, and border crossings through contacts in Lebanon, Pakistan, Greece, and Turkey.
For the foreign incursion offence, El Matari made systematic preparations to travel to Khorasan Province in Afghanistan where ISIS was operating. Pakistani Consulate multiple times. Tactical vest from a hunting supplies store in St Marys. Changed his driver's licence address to obtain a passport. Booked and paid cash for return flights from Sydney to Islamabad departing 10 June 2019. Packed a suitcase with clothing and equipment.
He told his wife their marriage was "an alibi" because he needed "something to make it look like I'm going to come back." He would be "the first Australian to have a link with the IS in Khorasan province."
Sentence
Justice Garling sentenced El Matari to an aggregate sentence of 7 years and 4 months imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 5 years and 6 months, commencing 2 July 2019. The indicative sentence for the terrorism offence (including the membership offence taken into account) was 4 years and 6 months. For the foreign incursion offence, 6 years. Both already reflected a 25% discount for the early guilty pleas.
The judge found El Matari's prospects of rehabilitation slight. They would likely improve when he had access to intervention programs. Psychologist Chelsey Dewson assessed him at high risk of both general reoffending (45% likely to return to custody within 12 months of release) and violent extremism.
His conditions of custody were more onerous than typical prisoners. He was held in the High Risk Management Correctional Centre in Area 1, designated for Extreme High Risk Restricted prisoners. Allowed out of his cell for only two hours per day.
Related Profiles
- Isaac El Matari - offender; self-declared ISIS Commander Australia
- Tukiterangi Lawrence - recipient of insurgency letter
- Youssef Uweinat - received correspondence from El Matari in prison