Australian judge warns jury against Muslim prejudice

An Australian judge, presiding over the trial of 12 Islamic men on terrorism charges, warned jurors not to let prejudices towards Muslims interfere with their judgement.

An Australian judge, presiding over the trial of 12 Islamic men on terrorism charges, on Wednesday warned jurors not to let prejudices towards Muslims interfere with their judgement.

“There has been a lot of talk in this trial about anti-Muslim sentiment and anti-Muslim feeling in the community,” Judge Bernard Bongiorno told the jury in the Victoria state Supreme Court.

“Prejudice, sympathy and such things have no part in a criminal trial,” he said as he began his final summing up in a trial which began in February.

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The men have all pleaded not guilty to charges of being members of a terrorist organisation and other terror-related offences.

The court has heard allegations the men were urged by their leader, Islamic cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, to target football matches or a train station in a bid to kill 1,000 people.

The prosecution said Benbrika had taught the group that it was ‘permissible to kill women, children and the aged’ in the cause of violent jihad or holy war and in a bid to force Australia to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

But his defence lawyer, Remy Ven de Wiel, told the court Benbrika was a braggart and did nothing more than talk about jihad.

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“The Muslims in Australia have a sense of powerlessness and political impotence and they express themselves,” Van de Wiel said.

The judge told the jurors to avoid outside influences such as the media and the Internet as they consider their verdict.