Fresh charges of refusing to answer questions at the New South Wales Crime Commission have been laid against a 23-year-old Sydney man implicated in the September killing of police employee Curtis Cheng.
Talal Alameddine, already on remand in Goulburn’s Supermax prison over accusations he joined a homegrown terrorist group, was charged with 20 counts of refusing to answer the inquisitorial body’s questions on Friday.
He was arrested in October and charged with supplying the firearm that 15-year-old Farhad Jabar used to kill Cheng outside the Parramatta police station earlier that month.
Raban Alou and Mustafa Dirani are the others accused of forming a terrorist organisation allegedly linked to the murder.
Alameddine had previously been charged with knowingly participating in a criminal group and hindering the discovery of evidence.
It it the second time a person has been charged in connection with refusing to answer questions before the NSW Crime Commission this year. In February an 18-year-old woman was charged with a number of counts of refusing to answer questions.
The powers of the New South Wales Crime Commission and Australian Crime Commission are increasingly being used in terrorism investigations to coerce individuals close to terrorism suspects into giving evidence.
He was refused bail and will face Goulburn local court on Friday.
