Three jailed for plotting terrorist attack in Melbourne at 2016 Christmas time
Canberra/Sputnik/UNI: An Australian court has sentenced three men to lengthy prison terms for plotting a terrorist attack at Melbourne's Federation Square during the 2016 Christmas period, Australian media reported on Friday, citing the court ruling.
Abdullah Chaarani, 29, and Ahmed Mohamed, 27, were each jailed for 38 years with a non-parole period of 28 years, while the third man, Hamza Abbas, 24, was jailed for 22 years with a non-parole period of 16 years and six months, according to the ABC broadcaster.
Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale said that the convicts had accepted the ideology of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, banned in Russia) and described the plot as "an assault on the fundamental values of our society."
The three men were planning to use machetes, guns and improvised explosive devices to carry out the attack, according to the media outlet.
For two of them, namely Chaarani and Mohamed, this plot is the second terrorism conviction, as they are already serving 22-year prison terms for setting fire to a Shia mosque in Melbourne just weeks before the planned Christmas attack.
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