Sydney: Five Australians Found Guilty of Plotting Terrorism Attack

Five Australian men accused of planning to commit terrorism were taken into a West Sydney court especially built to hear the trial.

The men reportedly did not react when the verdicts were read.

The verdicts came after 23 days of jury deliberation.

There were scuffles with the media outside the courtroom after the verdict was handed down.

„I make of this verdict that it was an unfair trial. It’s unfair because he’s done nothing wrong.“

Another supporter spoke about the effect the verdict may have on Australia’s future security.

„If they think this will stop terrorism, imprisoning these people, I don’t think it will stop terrorism. I think it will increase the threat on Australia.“

The five pleaded not guilty of charges of stockpiling chemicals, guns and ammunition and plotting to commit terrorist violence.

The jury heard from 300 witnesses, examined 3,000 exhibits, watched 30 days of surveillance tapes and listened to 18 hours of intercepted phone conversations.

The court was also told one man had attended a militant training camp in Pakistan, while three had attended camps in Australia to prepare for an unspecified attack.

95 Australians have been killed in militant bombings in neighboring Indonesia since 2001, but Australia has never suffered a major peacetime attack on home soil.

(NTDTV)