Australia passes bill to detain terrorists indefinitely

This photo shows Australian police arresting one of two men accused of plotting attacks on targets in Sydney, during an operation in Sydney, Australia, December 23, 2015. (By AFP)

Australia has approved a new counter-terrorism bill that allows the indefinite detention of people convicted of terror-related offenses.

Under the legislation passed on Thursday, convicted terrorists in Australia will be kept in jail even after serving their sentences if they continue to be deemed a terror threat.

The “High Risk Terrorist Offenders” bill was originally proposed following a call by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in July for laws to be strengthened amid the frequency and severity of terror attacks worldwide.

“In the wake of Orlando, Nice and other terrorist incidents as well as our own experience of 16 counter-terrorism operations since September 2014, resulting in the charging of 44 persons, we cannot afford for a moment to be complacent,” Malcolm said at a press conference back then.

The bill allows for an extension of a sentence 12 months before it expires, rather than six months as originally proposed.

“This bill strengthens the ability of our security agencies to continue to detain somebody if they’ve committed serious terrorism offenses... and they have not been rehabilitated,” Justice Minister Michael Keenan said at the Thursday parliament meeting to discuss the bill.

“We are not going to allow people who haven’t been rehabilitated in prison to be released and then go on to harm our fellow Australians,” he added.

The justice minister noted that since September 2014, when Australia’s terror alert level was lifted to high, 55 people had been charged as a result of 24 counter-terrorism operations.

Canberra has been on high alert over the past two years for attacks by home-grown terrorists and has charged dozens of people with terrorism-related offenses, including some accused of planning mass attacks.

In December 2014, a gunman believed to sympathize with Daesh took 18 people hostage in a 16-hour siege at a Sydney cafe. Two hostages died during the standoff, and the gunman was himself shot dead by police.

According to government officials, six attacks have been foiled over the past year in Australia.

The Australian government has also ratified a law criminalizing travel to Daesh strongholds, including those in Syria and Iraq. Individuals charged with the crime could face up to 10 years in prison.