Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash arrives in Australia to face terror charges

Accused Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash has landed in Australia and faced court on serious charges.

The Melbourne-born alleged jihadi, 31, flew from Turkey to Darwin early on Friday morning and will be extradited to Victoria to face court where he faces life in prison.

Prakash has been described as the ‘most important and most dangerous’ Australian member of ISIS after he allegedly encouraged attacks on Sydney and Melbourne.

Australian Federal Police has released photos of officers escorting a handcuffed  Prakash casually dressed in a black Fila hoodie and tracksuit pants through Darwin airport on Friday.

Prakash spoke only two words when he later appeared in a court on six terror-related charges before being extradited to Victoria.

Neil Prakash was escorted through Darwin airport by AFP officers on Friday after being deported from Turkey

Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash has arrived in Australia to face terror charges 

Prakash replied ‘yeah’ when Judge Elizabeth Morris asked if he could speak English, and ‘no’ when asked if he needed to seek legal advice, NT News reported. 

He then refused to answer when asked by the judge if he was Neil Christopher Prakash.

The Commonwealth prosecutor Naomi Low was then required to call Victorian police to confirm Prakash’s identity.

The police officer told the court Prakash had distinctive scars and a tattoo on his chest of a family member’s name, which police had identified.

AFP used a passport to identify Prakash when he arrived at Darwin Airport on Friday morning.

Prakash was remanded in custody to be extradited to Victoria to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court next Friday (December 9).

Prakash was in prison in Turkey for six years for his role with ISIS and had been held in an immigration detention centre since his release in February. 

Former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton revoked Prakash’s citizenship in 2018 over his ISIS participation and on the grounds he was Fijian.

But Fijian immigration officials were adamant Prakash – who was born in Melbourne to a Fijian father – has never held or sought citizenship of their country.

Prakash rose to prominence over his links to several terror plots in Australia and his use of social media to lure potential recruits to Islamic State.

In Turkey, he pleaded not guilty to being a member of a terrorist ­organisation in but was convicted after a lengthy trial in Kilis, and sentenced to seven and a half years jail.

During his trial, he admitted joining Islamic State but denied being a leader of the group.

Neil Prakash was casually dressed in a black Fila hoodie and tracksuit pants when he touch down in Australia at Darwin Airport early Friday morning

Neil Prakash (pictured being escorted by AFP officers) will be extradited to Victoria after he appeared in a Darwin court

The former rap singer was also linked to a failed Melbourne plot to behead a police officer and had connections to a number of Australian jihadis

In Turkey, he pleaded not guilty to being a member of a terrorist ­organisation in but was convicted after a lengthy trial in Kilis, and sentenced to seven and a half years jail

Prakash was born in Melbourne, of Fijian and Cambodian descent. He was raised a Buddhist

He also said he regretted his association with the group.

The former rap singer was also linked to a failed Melbourne plot to behead a police officer and had connections to a number of Australian jihadis.

He was stripped of his Australian citizenship and had his passport cancelled on December 21, 2018.

‘If given the opportunity, Mr Prakash would harm or kill Australians, and our country is a safer place for him having lost his Australian citizenship,’ Mr Dutton said. 

In June, the High Court ruled that the government’s ability to strip citizenship is invalid, paving the way for Prakash to have his citizenship restored, according to the Australian.

A court later heard how AFP officers had to used a passport to identify Neil Prakash (pictured) when he arrived at Darwin Airport

Prakash (pictured after being deported) has been described as the ‘most important and most dangerous’ Australian member of ISIS after he allegedly encouraged attacks on Sydney and Melbourne

Prakash appeared in several propaganda videos for ISIS and took up arms for the terror group in Syria

Prakash was an active recruiter for ISIS, as well as a propagandist and facilitator for foreign fighters seeking to join the terror group.

He had connections to several Australian jihadis, including Numan Haider, 18, who was shot dead after attacking two police ­officers at Endeavour Hills in Melbourne in September 2014.

In 2016, then-attorney-general George Brandis described Prakash as ‘the highest value target from an Australian point of view in the Middle East’. 

NEIL PRAKASH: FROM MELBOURNE BUDDHIST TO ISIS FIGHTER AND RECRUITER 

Prakash (pictured) was arrested in 2016 when he crossed the Syrian border into Turkey after fighting in Syria and Iraq

1991

Neil Prakash is born in Melbourne, of Fijian and Cambodian descent. He was raised a Buddhist

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2012

He converts to Islam and attends the controversial al-Furqan Islamic Centre in Melbourne

2013

Prakash leaves Australia to join the Islamic State in Syria. Takes the jihadi name Abu Khaled al-Cambodi and appears in IS propaganda videos. Recruits would-be terrorists in Australia

2014

His Australian passport is cancelled

2015

Australian federal police issue a warrant for his arrest through Interpol

Prakash is linked to a failed Melbourne plot to behead a police officer on Anzac Day 2015

Prakash publicly praises Numan Haider, the 18-year-old who was killed after stabbing two police officers outside a Melbourne police station in 2014

2016

April

The US – incorrectly – announces Prakash has been killed in a drone strike 

October

Prakash is captured by Turkish authorities trying to cross from Syria using false documents and imprisoned on terrorism-related charges 

2018

July

A Turkish court rejects Australia’s application for his extradition and a judge orders his release. Moments later, he is back behind bars to face local terror charges

September

Prakash claims the Islamic State forced him to take part in propaganda videos and recruit members because he was Australian

December

Prakash admits he feels ‘regret’ for his participation with Islamic State. ‘I feel regret for joining the Islamic State and for the time I spent with them. I feel repentant,’ he said

He is stripped of his Australian citizenship

2019 

March 

Prakash is sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in a Turkish prison

2022

February  

Prakash is released from jail but is being held in an immigration detention centre