Terror manual maker has appeal dismissed
A man who produced a do-it-yourself terrorism manual has lost an appeal after a Sydney court found it would be ‘‘naive’’ to think reducing his sentence would placate extremists.
In 2011, Belal Saadallah Khazaal’s conviction for compiling a document to assist in a terrorist act was quashed in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.
However his conviction was reinstated by the High Court last August and he was taken back into custody.
The High Court remitted Khazaal’s appeal against the severity of his sentence to the Court of Criminal Appeal, but this was dismissed by a threejudge panel yesterday.
Khazaal, 44, a former Qantas cabin cleaner and editor of The Call to Islam magazine, was found guilty in 2008 of compiling and editing an online jihadist e- book in 2003.
It advocated the widespread use of assassination, described numerous methods of carrying out assassinations and identified targets.
He was sentenced to 12 years’ jail with a nonparole period of nine years.
Khazaal appealed his sentence on several grounds including that it may be ‘‘counter-productive’’ and provoke further offences.