A man charged with possessing Islamic State beheading propaganda has been refused bail by a Melbourne magistrate and will remain in custody.
Mohammad Emad Uddin Ahmadzai, 31, is also accused of failing to provide access to electronic devices when requested. He appeared by videolink at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.
Magistrate Samantha Seoud said the alleged offending was serious and that the prosecution case was “not weak”. She ruled that Mr Ahmadzai had not shown the exceptional circumstances required for bail.
Australian Federal Police allegedly found violent extremist material on a phone linked to Mr Ahmadzai. The videos are said to include a hostage being shot at close range, beheadings, throat cuttings, mass casualties, dead children and Islamic State flags and logos.
Sergeant James Allison previously told the court that officers raided a home in Roxburgh Park, in Melbourne’s north, on 7 May. The property was shared by Mr Ahmadzai and his brother, and police seized two phones, a tablet and a broomstick fitted with a screwdriver head.
Mr Ahmadzai allegedly refused to provide the passcode for one of the phones. Police gained access to it five days later, but its contents were not analysed until 7 August.
Sergeant Allison described the material as “very offensive, very extreme” and “quite horrific”. Despite the discovery, Mr Ahmadzai was allowed to remain in the community and travelled to Afghanistan to care for his ill father.
The officer said detectives had been prioritising a related investigation involving four men, including Mr Ahmadzai’s brother, who have been charged with possessing violent extremist material.
After Mr Ahmadzai returned to Melbourne on 7 August, border officials allegedly found a video showing the flag of JNIM, described in court as a terror organisation, on another phone. Federal police also identified the alleged extremist videos on the seized device that day.
Border officials seized the second phone and a bubble-wrapped desktop computer from his luggage. Police had not yet analysed the computer when Mr Ahmadzai was again permitted to leave the country.
He was arrested at Melbourne Airport on Saturday as he prepared to travel to Afghanistan. Prosecutor Bridget Atkinson told the court the alleged offending was serious because the suspected links to violent ideology were “not isolated”.
Defence lawyer Siobhan Stary argued that the charge, which carries a maximum sentence of five years, was less serious than other terrorism-related offences. She also said investigators had not established whether Mr Ahmadzai had engaged with the material.
Mr Ahmadzai will return to court on 15 January.
