The commonwealth case against a 22-year-old accused of involvement in one of Australia’s most high-profile alleged terrorism plots has collapsed.
Prosecutors have dropped all terrorism charges against Maywand Osman, one of eight men charged in connection with an alleged plot to attack government buildings and a navy base in Sydney’s east.
The withdrawal of his charges in Sydney’s central local court on Wednesday raises questions about the initial decision to charge the Marsfield man. Lawyers for Osman also flagged it could lead to costly legal action against the police.
The commonwealth director of public prosecutions (CDPP) generally provides advice on whether to proceed with charges.
Osman, a 15-year-old boy who cannot be named, and six others were charged after a year-long police analysis of handwritten documents seized in December 2014 from the home of one of the accused men.
Police have said the notes did not detail “a specific act, a specific activity”, but allegedly mentioned locations including the Australian federal police headquarters, police stations and a navy base in Woolloomooloo.
A New South Wales police deputy commissioner, Catherine Burn, said in December it would be alleged “there was a group of people who came together with the idea, with the intent to do something and they started to make preparations to carry out a terrorist act”.
“We think we [may have] disrupted what may have eventuated into something becoming more specific,” she said.
Osman had been incarcerated in Goulburn’s Supermax prison since December 2014 on other offences.
His home was one of more than a dozen raided in September 2014 as part of Operation Appleby, Australia’s largest counter-terrorism investigation to date, which has led to 13 other men being charged with terrorism offences.
His solicitor, Moustafa Kheir, said outside court that Osman and his family were “extremely relieved that this nightmare is over”.
“He has always protested his innocence,” he said. “He was held in Supermax in horrific and subhuman conditions. I will be pursuing every legal option available to remedy his horror.
“I understand there is hysteria but we can’t be treating people like this … We ask for checks and measures to ensure tragedies like this stop happening. To stop the overpolicing, and respect human rights.”
The CDPP said in a statement that “following service of the complete brief of evidence by police [it] conducted an independent assessment of all available, admissible evidence”.
“The CDPP formed the view that there was insufficient evidence to continue the prosecution of Mr Osman,” it said.
