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A notorious terrorist leader who plotted to blow up the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the AFL grand final has admitted he needs time to adjust to life as a free man and the public has nothing to worry about following his recent release from jail .
Abdul Nacer Benbrika, 63, spent 18 years behind bars for plotting to attack the MCG while it was packed with 100,000 fans, along with Melbourne’s railway network and Crown Casino in 2005.
The convicted terrorist has broken his silence since his release from Barwon Prison, a high-risk, maximum security facility, two weeks ago, following the recent controversial High Court ruling that indefinite detention was unlawful.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika (pictured leaving Barwon Prison) is still getting used to life as a free man
Benbrika wanted Australians to know he had learned a big lesson and assured the public he will not offend again.
‘I’ve thought about it and I’ve learned a great lesson.’
Benbrika also conveyed a message to those who were anxious about his release from prison.
‘Listen, just sleep. Don’t worry about it, you have nothing to worry about anymore (Benbrika).
There is debate over whether he should have been released, including claims by a leading national security think tank that it was “highly unlikely” that he was not a public threat.
Two of his sons also allegedly have links to convicted terrorists and underworld figures, including gangster Ahmed Elomar.
“People should know that Nacer (himself) is not what he was,” Benbrika told the publication.
‘Don’t worry about it, you have nothing to worry about him (Benbrika) now.’
Abdul Nacer Benbrika (pictured) plotted to attack the MCG while it was packed with 100,000 fans.
Benbrika has had 30 strict conditions imposed, despite Victorian Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth ruling he had made substantial progress towards deradicalisation.
He must wear a tracking device, is prohibited from sending mail and must reside with his wife and four children at their home in Melbourne’s north.
There are also restrictions on who Benbrika can contact, where he can go and who can visit the family home.
Before his sentence expired in 2020, former Home Secretary Peter Dutton successfully applied for the order, which allows courts to keep convicted terrorists behind bars if they pose an ongoing danger to the community.
Algerian-born Benbrika won a landmark court ruling to overturn a government attempt to strip him of his Australian citizenship and deport him.
Benbrika, 63, emigrated to Australia in 1989 and obtained her citizenship in 1998, but was devastated in 2020 after serving 15 years in prison for running a terrorist organisation.
Convicted terrorist leader must wear a tracking device as part of 30 strict conditions imposed on him