Prakash hearing delayed

A TURKISH court has opened up a new legal front against Australia’s most wanted terrorist Neil Prakash in a move that could delay his potential return to Australia for years.

Prakash, who has fathered at least three children with two wives while fighting in Iraq and Syria, appeared by videolink in the Kilis Criminal Court last night, where a decision was due on whether he would be extradited to Australia.

The prolific Melbourneborn Islamic State recruiter, promoter and financier is wanted in Australia on charges of being a member of a terrorist organisation and “incursions into a foreign state with the intention of engaging in hostile activities’’.

But after a 15-minute hearing, the court delayed his case again to July 19.

And the prosecutor Serdar Durmus revealed Turkish authorities were now looking at whether Prakash had committed a crime against the state of Turkey by being a member of a terrorist organisation.

He said they needed more time to investigate Prakash’s involvement with the terror group.

If convicted, Prakash, 27, would be sentenced to a lengthy jail term which would delay any legal proceeding in Australia for years.

Prakash has admitted several times being a member of Islamic State.

He told investigating officers when he was arrested in 2016 sneaking across the Syrian border that he had fathered at least three children with two different brides – a Dutch-Syrian woman, and a French-Syrian woman.

If his claims are true, all the children would be eligible for Australian citizenship.