Case concerns ‘f..k Israel’ vandal Mohommed Farhat, who remains in custody after being denied parole
A NSW Supreme Court judge wrote to the state’s parole authority to alert it to “serious errors” and a possible miscarriage of justice in the case against ‘f..k Israel’ vandal Mohommed Farhat, who remains in custody after being denied parole.
Justice Desmond Fagan said he wanted the authority to consider his findings that the sentencing magistrate had not received key evidence supporting Farhat’s account and had been misled, The Australian reported. However, the authority confirmed that the judge’s findings were not taken into account when it upheld the earlier decision denying Farhat parole.
At a 19 August hearing, Fagan questioned whether the state should act to address what he described as an “evident injustice.”
“I don’t purport to compel,” he said. “I simply ask whether the state through various of its agencies will now do something to correct the evident injustice of him still being in full-time custody.”
Fagan reached his findings after considering thousands of pages of evidence, extensive psychological reports and four days of hearings. He found the sentencing magistrate was wrong to characterise the graffiti “f..k Israel” and “PKK coming” as antisemitic.
The judge found Farhat was motivated by money rather than antisemitism or religious ideology and did not pose a serious terrorism threat.
Those conclusions differed from the parole authority’s assessment that Farhat had not recanted his “extremist views” and presented a serious identifiable risk to the community. Farhat will serve his full 20-month sentence, which expires in October.
The authority said its determination was based on material presented at a 6 March hearing, more than four months before Fagan’s findings. It handed down its decision weeks after those findings, but a spokesperson said they were not considered because of the separate functions and legislative requirements of each jurisdiction.
Fagan found Farhat’s full bank statements, which corroborated his claim that he was paid to commit the offences, had not been provided to the sentencing magistrate. The magistrate was also not told counter-terrorism police had accepted that Farhat had been recruited and was not ideologically motivated.
NSW Greens MP Sue Higginson has referred the matter to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. Attorney-General Michael Daley is also seeking legal advice about a possible appeal against Justice Fagan’s refusal to impose special monitoring on Farhat after his release.
Farhat’s legal team is considering options concerning a possible miscarriage of justice.
