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| Down Under |
| Australia Outlaws Travel to Terror Hotspots |
| 2014-10-31 |
| [AnNahar] Australia on Thursday passed a law criminalizing travel to terror hotspots, a tough counter-terrorism measure aimed at stopping jihadists from going to Iraq and Syria to fight. The Australian government has been increasingly concerned about the flow of imported muscle to the Middle East to join murderous Moslem groups such as Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... , with 70 Australians believed to have already made the journey. The Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fighters) includes measures that make it an offense to enter a "declared area" where a terrorist organization is engaging in hostile activity, without a valid reason. The offense carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. "The imported muscle bill that has passed the parliament today will mean, first of all, that it is easier to secure convictions against Australians who have been fighting with terrorist groups overseas," Prime Minister Tony Abbott told parliament Thursday. "It will mean that it is easier to monitor potential bully boyz here, and it will also mean... that it is easier to prosecute the preachers of hate who create the potential terrorists." Abbott told parliament about 100 Australians were supporting jihadists who had traveled to the Middle East to fight with recruitment and funding from home. Some 20 jihadists who fought with terrorist groups in the region had also returned to Australia, Abbott added. "The best way to deal with returning imported muscle is to stop them leaving in the first place... and I'm able to inform the House that some 70 Australian passports have been canceled to stop bully boyz or potential bully boyz from traveling." The new law, which was passed by the lower House of Representatives on Thursday with bipartisan support, came as the Labor opposition raised concerns that another national security measure passed in September could see journalists locked away Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! for up to 10 years. Attorney-General George Brandis refuted the concerns, saying that the legislation was instead "intended to deal with a Snowden-type situation". Documents leaked by U.S. intelligence runaway Edward Snowden included reports in November that Australian spies tried to tap the phones of former Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his inner circle, damaging relations between the two countries. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #5 Australian officials bribed the leaders of several large neighbouring countries including Indonesia and I think Malaysia plus a few more Securency scandal we were barred from reading about it. the court case was closed and none of it was reportable in the media here. Australian Media and Communications Authority hires cops to trawl the internet and block URLs of websites "that are against the law". When asked they will only say that is 'child sex abuse material' but it isn't. it's things the public has a right to know like our top bureaucrats bribing our neighbours corruptly to get deals you cannot have a democracy unless there is actually a democracy and people have to know what their government is doing or the system is not democratic bipartisan support on every major issue means there is no longer a democracy in Australia you cannot call this country democratic. we have left the field. |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-10-31 11:07 |
| #4 this is NOT a good law. Same as the NSA Bill before it. These two laws have basically destroyed every freedom in Australia. There is nothing legally differentiating Australia's security forces now from say the KGB. I am not exaggerating. They may not use them all the time. The problem is they now decide with no independent scrutiny when they will use them and on who - no warrants needed. There is no protection for civilians. No protection for political dissidents. Australia is now a place where a political candidate that ASIO doesn't like will soon have emails leaked to the press about them. They can hack everyone's computer whenever they want. Under these new laws a "special intelligence operation" can be declared with only ASIO themselves needing to authorise it (the attorney general is also head of asio). - anyone in an SIO can claim legal immunity when they intentionally break the law. Very few exceptions to this which are the big obvious: murder, serious property damage, sexual offence and torture. Everything else is OK to break the law. - forcing courts to accept illegally obtained evidence - 10 years' jail for anybody identifying anybody in ASIO. This means if you are a victim or a falsely accused person you cannot tell your lawyer. You cannot tell a court. A court cannot question or cross examine someone from asio - instead they offer now an "evidenciary certificate" that the court must accept. NONE of this has anything to do with combating Islamist fascism. The foreign fighters bill is the same. They pretend it is about the Islamist fascists (who they won't even name, they still just say 'terrorist') but in reality they do nothing to stop the spread of that ideology here. So now Australians that ASIO doesn't like (such as former Attorney General Bernard Collaery who acted legally in a case for East Timor against Australia) can be denied the freedom to leave the country at ASIO's whim because practically everywhere can be called a "declared area". |
| Posted by: anon1 2014-10-31 11:00 |
| #3 No more Qantas fights to Chicago and Detroit, then? |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2014-10-31 09:19 |
| #2 It would seem like outlawing travel FROM terror hotspots would be more appropriate. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2014-10-31 07:06 |
| #1 Damn Kellys! |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-10-31 03:46 |