June 28 2002 – Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer has revoked the passport of a young Australian Muslim after being advised by intelligence officers the man was a security risk with possible links to terrorist networks in the Middle East.
Zak Mallah, 18, an unemployed Muslim from Greenacre, Sydney, said he would appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal against the decision, which was apparently made on the advice of two Australian Security Intelligence Organisation officers who interviewed him.
Mr Mallah said he had told ASIO officers that Osama bin Laden, for all his faults, was a Muslim brother, and that US support for Israel was the ultimate cause of the September 11 terrorism.
A spokesman for Mr Downer confirmed that Mr Mallah would not receive a passport on the grounds that he was considered a security risk, but offered no further comment on the matter.
The president of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy, said ASIO’s actions in Sydney’s Islamic community had attracted many complaints.
The council had received 16 separate complaints about ASIO’s activities from Islamic groups and individuals in Sydney, involving serious civil liberties infringements, he said yesterday.
He had now lodged a complaint relating to one of those incidents to the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, Bill Blick.
“We have identified a serious problem with the way ASIO is conducting itself,” he said.
“ASIO is targeting these people without evidence. It is totally unreasonable. You wouldn’t see someone from an Irish background being denied a passport because they support Sinn Fein.”
According to Mr Mallah, ASIO’s interviews with Muslim people in Sydney were widespread, and he never thought it would happen to him.
A member of the Lakemba Mosque, Mr Mallah participated in demonstrations against the Israeli Consulate in Sydney recently.
“It’s happening with so many Muslims with ASIO in Sydney. They want to travel and before you know it they are being interrogated for unsatisfactory reasons,” he said.
After applying for a replacement passport, Mr Mallah was interviewed in late May by two members of ASIO, when he told them that the reason for September 11 attacks was America’s support for Israel.