Nov. 1 (UPI) -- An Australian court on Wednesday cleared the way for a man convicted of terrorism charges to get his citizenship back and possibly be released from prison within weeks.
The High Court ruled 6-1 that an anti-terror law used to strip Alegerian-born cleric Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who was found guilty on terrorism charges in 2008 for leading a terror cell that targeted Australian landmarks, was invalid.
Benbrika's lawyers argued that then Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton appropriated criminal punishment powers reserved exclusively to the courts when he deprived Benbrika of his citizenship in 2020 just before was due to be released from a 15-year prison sentence.
"The fact that a court determines some, though not all, of the facts and circumstances that are relevant to engaging the power ... does not deny that the minister has purportedly been authorized to punish a person by way of involuntary deprivation of citizenship," said his lawyers.
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Benbrika has been held in custody ever since under a post-sentence detention order that is up for renewal on Dec. 24 with Victoria's supreme court now expected to rule on whether to release Benbrika under strict conditions of supervision.
Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government would be seeking clarification on the repercussions of Wednesday's decision.
"We will examine the ruling and respond appropriately. Quite clearly there was an issue with the former government's legislation, which is what this ruling relates to," he said. "When it comes to the legal consequences, we will seek advice for the ruling and respond appropriately."
The state's lawyers had argued that the law in question passed by the previous Liberal government in 2020 only granted government powers to remove citizenship when a court had already adjudged guilt and sentenced an individual for a terror offense.
The government's legal team hoped to reverse the precedent set in a June 2022 challenge in which the High Court ordered citizenship be restored to a Turkish-born man whose citizenship was canceled in July 2021 because he was believed to have joined Islamic State, engaged in paramilitary actions abroad, and helped recruit members to the group.
The lawyers argued then that it was "not unprecedented" for additional punishment to be imposed after an individual after he or she has served their sentence, citing the example of forfeiture of assets.
