‘HE WAS FRAMED’, SAY FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Australian Federal Police say the charges were ‘serious and significant He was not granted bail with the next hearing fixed for October 23

Family members and friends of 25-fiveyear-old Kamar Nizamdeen claim that he has been framed resulting in his arrest on Thursday by the New South Wales Police on terrorism charges.“he is an open minded Muslim who has been framed by someone with immense jealousy. Jealous of his accolades, his position and the type of character he has developed into,” his 19-year-old brother said in a social media post.

It was “unthinkable” that he would be aligned to the ideology or activity he is suspected of

Shehan Bhavan, a friend in a Facebook post has questioned the credibility of the evidence against him.

“Why will an IT savvy person like him have a notebook full of places in Sydney. He is being framed because of his name,” he said.

“Absolutely unbelievable that this is happening to the Kamer we know and love,” another friend said.

Nizamdeen, a Phd student at the University of New South Wales and an alumnus of the St.thomas College, Preparatory School, Kollupitiya and Asian International School (AIS), was arrested by the NSW Police on a tip-off from a colleague regarding a notebook containing ‘symbolic places’.

Kamer’s former teacher Tania Bartlett told Daily Mirror that it was “unthinkable” that he would be aligned to the ideology or activity he is suspected of.

“Kamer as I know him could never be capable of such depravity. He is a clever, kind and sensitive and is a funloving, food loving boy just as most boys his age and so this is simply unthinkable by me and other teachers, students who know him, have stayed in touch with him

“Kamer as I know him could never be capable of such depravity. He is a clever, kind and sensitive and is a fun-loving, food loving boy just as most boys his age and so this is simply unthinkable by me and other teachers, students who know him, have stayed in touch with him. We all pray that the investigation will be thorough and that he will be cleared of all this,” she said.

He was not granted bail with the next hearing fixed for October 23. It is unclear whether he was granted legal representation during the hearing. Media reports said Nizamdeen had not sought bail. His brother said as reported in the media, the Police statement said there was an attempt to mystify the public with vague statements.

“When the media tells you that he travelled to Sri Lanka and ‘other areas’ please understand that ‘other areas’ are not Syria or any war torn region in the Middle East. It is simply the United States of America where he travelled to visit family. When they tell you that they raided his apartment and found ‘Electronic Gadgets’ please note that they are referring to a Phone, Laptop and an Xbox,” he said. In a final plea to the suspected ‘framer’, Junior Nizamdeen urged that they come forward and ‘tell the truth’.

“To he who has done this and framed my brother I sincerely cannot speak for my parents but I can forgive you. I hope you look deeply into your heart and feel guilt in your horrendous crime. I hope you can find God and that you can have sincere repentance and come out and tell the truth,” he said.

The NSW Police earlier allegedly found documents ‘containing plans to facilitate terrorism attacks’ and a notebook that named a number of locations and individuals as ‘potential targets’.

‘From the documentation, we believe he would affiliate with ISIS,’ Detective Superintendent Mick Sheehy told the media hours after the arrest.

Australian Federal Police detective superintendent Michael Mctiernan said the charges laid against Nizamdeen were ‘serious and significant’.

“At this stage there is a number of locations and individuals named in that document who are potential targets,” he told reporters on Friday.

However, Bhavan insisted that something remained amiss in the entire saga.

“I know he never believed in any of the crap he is being accused for simply finding a notebook of places,” he said going on to state “our best guess is he uncovered something while working with the Government and now he is being framed for it”.

The brother of Nizamdeen also extolled the same sentiments.

“He has been falsely accused and as justification of having no conclusive evidence, their motive is to prolong his stay under custody to simply save themselves,” the post being circulated on social media said.