Three men jailed for Australia Christmas terror plot
November 29, 2019, 10:49 am

Three men jailed for Australia Christmas terror plot

Australian police in Melbourne. (File photo AFP)

Three men were jailed Friday for an ISIS-inspired terror plot to cause mass casualties in Australia’s second-largest city Melbourne during the 2016 Christmas period.

Hamza Abbas, 24, Ahmed Mohamed, 27 and Abdullah Chaarani, 29, were found guilty last year of plotting to use machetes and homemade bombs to target major sites - including a train station and a church - in a December attack.

In handing down the sentences judge Christopher Beale said the men had been accessing online material “supportive of and violent jihad” in the lead-up to their arrest.

Beale said the men came to believe their planned “mass slaughter of innocent civilians” would be a “glorious act.”

“The stupidity of that belief was only matched by its malevolence,” Beale said.

Abbas was sentenced for 22 years, while Mohamed and Chaarani, who were facing their second terror charge, were jailed for 38 years.

Police uncovered the plot after monitoring the Australian-born men’s phone conversations, text messages and emails, and all four were arrested on December 22, 2016.

Then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called their plans “one of the most substantial terrorist plots that have been disrupted over the last several years.”

source: AFP

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BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
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Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”