The federal circuit court has confirmed the first control order in more than eight years. It follows agreement by the Australian federal police to a series of amendments to the order, making the restrictions it imposes more flexible.
Control orders are controversial anti-terrorism powers that allow a person to have strict conditions placed on their movement and association, but require a much lower standard of proof than criminal offences.
The year-long control order against Ahmad Saiyer Naizmand was confirmed on Monday by Judge Rolf Driver. The changes will allow Naizmand to use a phone and have internet access on a device specified by the AFP. It also lifts restrictions on which mosque he can attend.
The AFP sought an “interim control order” against Naizmand in September 2015, which could only be imposed for a longer period of time with the approval of a judge. The restrictions included bans on using mobile phones, telephones and computers. It also restricted who Naizmand could associate with, including a 12-year-old boy.
One of the controversial controls requested by the AFP was a requirement that he only attend Parramatta mosque for prayers. His lawyers had previously said they were considering mounting a constitutional challenge to the provision that restricted him from attending any other mosque.
But the Australian federal police’s joint counter-terrorism team agreed to a number of changes to the order, including striking out the requirement that Naizmand attend only Parramatta mosque.
The order now reads only that he is “required to consider in good faith” counselling or education with approved counsellors. All references to which mosques he can attend have been removed.
Driver wrote in his orders: “The court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that each of the obligations, prohibitions and restrictions to be imposed on you by the control order is reasonably necessary, and reasonably appropriate and adapted, for the purpose of protecting the public from a terrorist act.”
Naizmand’s control order is the first of four that have been sought over the past 18 months and are now before the courts.
The decision by the AFP to revise the restrictions appears to reflect a more conciliatory approach being taken in control order matters. Each clause that has been amended will allow the AFP to approve the use of Naizmand’s communications and associations in designated situations.
One person has also been removed from the list of people he is prohibited from contacting.
On Wednesday the federal circuit court in Melbourne will conduct a hearing to determine whether an order will be confirmed against Harun Causevic, the Melbourne teenager who was accused of planning a bombing on Anzac Day, but later had all terrorism charges against him dropped.
In November the federal government introduced a fifth tranche of national security legislation aimed at increasing the restrictions a person can be placed under when they are subject to a control order.
