Detention of Sydney teenage terrorism suspect 'awful and inhumane', says lawyer
|
Version 0 of 1. A teenage Sydney terrorism suspect is being held in “awful and inhumane” conditions and hasn’t been allowed to see her family, the woman’s lawyer says. Alo-Bridget Namoa appeared via video link from custody on Monday as prosecutors launched a detention application against the 18-year-old who was granted conditional release after being charged with refusing to answer questions during a New South Wales Crime Commission hearing. Namoa was granted bail on 11 February on the crime commission charges, but was later re-arrested and charged with federal offences including possessing an item and collecting documents connected with a terrorist act. Justice Ian Harrison ordered the detention and bail applications be heard together, adjourning both matters until 14 March. Outside the NSW supreme court on Monday, lawyer Sophie Toomey said it was unusual to see her client shackled in handcuffs in the video link. “I think that everything about the way they’re treating this young woman is unusual and not in the interests of justice,” she told reporters. “There’s a hysteria around the word terrorism that of course has created a situation where she is in a very, very dire situation and incarcerated in awful and inhumane circumstances.” The allegations relate to a hunting knife found inside the Auburn teen’s handbag and a document in Arabic providing instructions on how to make a detonator for an improvised explosive device. Namoa, who is married to a Sydney man charged with plotting a terrorist attack, has been formally refused bail on the fresh charges but has indicated she intends to launch a bid for release. Toomey said her client was extremely frightened and distressed. She had earlier told Harrison her client had suffered with “ongoing, debilitating anxiety and depression” since the age of 13. “She’s a young woman who is currently being deprived of access to her family, who are not yet cleared by federal police to visit her in custody,” Toohey said outside court. “She is alone in a cell 23 hours a day, and she is only released from her cell to have moments of sunlight. She has no access to anyone – not even me, might I add. They have not even cleared me to see my own client in custody.” |