Teen pilot charged over ‘pro-Hamas’ videos granted bail
Rex Martinich and Andrew Stafford |
A teenage student pilot and airport worker accused of sharing “pro-Hamas” videos of the October 2023 massacre and searching for the location of Israeli embassies has been granted bail.
Mohamed Ghassan Eltatary, 19, faced Southport Magistrates Court on Friday charged with five offences after a joint counter-terrorism team seized electronic devices in a raid on a Gold Coast home.
He was accused of sharing “pro-Hamas and anti-Semitic” videos, including terrorist bodycam footage of the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel, on the Discord group chat application, Magistrate Louisa Pink heard.
Two mobile phones, a laptop and a handwritten diary had been previously seized from the home in April, police said.
Eltatary was also accused of searching online for how to purchase knives, mass stabbings and shootings, .50 calibre bullets, how to purchase a Hamas headband and the location of Israel’s embassy in Australia.
“The material is disturbing and confronting,” Ms Pink said.
Eltatary, a dual Palestinian-Australian citizen, wore a green prison-issue tracksuit with no shoes and waved to his father in court, who blew a kiss in return.
Eltatary’s mother attended the start of the bail application but left after finding it “too emotional”, defence barrister Tony Kimmins said.
Crown prosecutor Sam Poplawski opposed bail on the grounds that terror suspects required exceptional circumstances for release and Eltatary presented an unacceptable risk of reoffending.
Eltatary had been viewing violent extremist material since age 12, Ms Pink heard.
“His immersion in material of this nature is not overly conducive to disengaging from these behaviours,” Mr Poplawski said.
A deleted video was uncovered during a second raid on Eltatary’s home on Thursday that Australian Federal Police suspect contained extremist material.
“Since his engagement with police in April, despite knowing police had seized his devices and that material was illegal, it appears he has re-engaged, to a limited degree,” Mr Poplawski said.
Eltatary was accused of sharing extremist videos with his family members and not the public over a five-month period in 2024, when he had just turned 18, Ms Pink heard.
“He has been in the community for six-and-a-half months without being charged,” Mr Kimmins said.
“When the family told authorities yesterday they all planned to go on holiday to Thailand, the police rushed to arrest him.”
No adult had been sentenced in Australia for the offence of sharing extremist material and the maximum penalty was five years in prison, Ms Pink heard.
“He’s a very young man, even if he comes to be sentenced for any of these offences he would be sentenced on the basis of someone who just entered adulthood,” Mr Kimmins said.
Eltatary had no prior criminal record, his family had offered a $500,000 surety and his diary suggested he could have mental health issues, Ms Pink heard.
The teen faced a strong prosecution case but met the exceptional circumstances required for bail, Ms Pink said.
“On the facts as they currently stand, I am satisfied that with one provision the risks of the defendant committing further offences can be sufficiently ameliorated with conditions,” she said.
Eltatary was limited to using one phone and laptop, providing all his passwords to police, banned from piloting aircraft or obtaining an airport security clearance and could not use social media or encrypted messaging apps.
His parents were also ordered to provide $100,000 surety.
The case will return to court on December 15.
AAP
