NSW brother of IS fighter to be released on parole

04 August, 2016 | Uncategorized
Ahmad Elomar who was jailed for brutally bashing a police officer during the 2012 Hyde Park riots will walk free. (Photo courtesy: Brendan Esposito/ Fairfax)

SYDNEY – The brother of jihadist Mohammed Elomar who died fighting for the self-declared Islamic State militant group will be released from jail today.

Ahmed Elomar, 33, has served close to three years of his maximum four-year and eight-month sentence in Goulburn prison for bashing a police officer with a wooden pole during the 2012 Hyde Park riots.

He was granted parole by the New South Wales Parole Authority in May amid claims he could be radicalised in jail.

Two weeks ago, the NSW Government appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, arguing that the parole authority had ignored vital information provided by NSW police and that Elomar posed a risk to public safety.

But Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Bellew this morning dismissed the Government’s case, finding the authority’s determinations were neither irrational nor illogical.

The government has also been ordered to pay Elomar’s legal costs.

– TiVi Tuan-san