Sri Lankan student detained in Australia on terrorism charges attacks ‘biased’ police after being freed
- Mohamed Kamer Nilar Nizamdeen, 25, was arrested in August and charged with creating a document in connection with preparing for a terrorist act
- Police declined to apologise to Nizamdeen after the charges were dropped, saying the investigation was ongoing and ‘we can never be complacent’
A Sri Lankan student who was detained in an Australian “supermax” prison on terrorism charges that were later dropped has criticised the “embarrassing and biased” police investigation against him.
Mohamed Kamer Nilar Nizamdeen, 25, was arrested in August and charged with creating a document in connection with preparing for a terrorist act.
Police claimed a notebook found in a workspace sometimes used by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) PhD student laid out a graphic Islamic State “affiliated” terrorist plot that reportedly targeted prominent Sydney political figures and landmarks.
In September, police suddenly announced they were dropping all charges against Nizamdeen after two handwriting experts said it was unclear whether he wrote the text in the notebook.
“It took six days for my lawyers to contact me,” Nizamdeen told reporters in Colombo on Thursday. “I had no contact with the outside world for six days, which is a violation of basic human and fundamental rights.”
It took another month for his family to establish contact, he said: “The method in which the [Australian Federal Police] conducted themselves was completely immature, unprofessional, irresponsible, embarrassing and biased to say the least.”
I had no contact with the outside world for six days, which is a violation of basic human and fundamental rights