Infamous terrorist stripped of Australian citizenship

CANBERRA: Australia’s most notorious home-grown terrorist, Neil Prakash, has been stripped of his Australian citizenship after he fought for Daesh in the Middle East, Xinhua news agency reported.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton said yesterday that Prakash, who is currently in prison in Turkey, is no longer considered an Australian.

Australia has lodged an extradition request with Turkey for Prakash, who faces allegations of inciting a terror plot in his former home state of Victoria.

However, the extradition will have to wait until the conclusion of Turkey’s criminal proceedings against Prakash, including any sentence imposed by a Turkish court, which could be up to 15 years imprisonment.

“This government is determined to deal with foreign terrorist fighters as far from our shores as possible,” Dutton told News Corp Australia yesterday.

It marks the 12th time that the Australian government has stripped a person’s citizenship over links to offshore terrorist organisations.

The Australian Citizenship Act 2007 allows the government to revoke a dual national’s citizenship if they act contrary to their allegiance to Australia.

“To be in the service of such a terrorist organisation, as Mr Prakash was, is to act inconsistently with your allegiance to Australia and we will do everything we can to ensure he is brought to account for his crimes,” Dutton said.

Prakash reportedly still holds Fijian citizenship through his father. Fijian authorities were notified of Dutton’s decision to revoke his citizenship ahead of time. — Bernama