The Federal Government has placed a control order on
Melbourne man Jack Thomas.
Mr Thomas will be required to stay in his house between
midnight and 5am and will report to police three times a week.
Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock says the control
orders are necessary to protect the Australian public.
He says the matter must be treated seriously.
"The issue is about protecting the Australian community,
not punishing a person for an offence proven beyond reasonable doubt," he
said.
Jack Thomas's brother, Les, says the lawyers never expected
this sort of control order to be handed down.
"They basically laughed at the idea, saying it was
basically beyond belief that that would even be attempted, so it's a great shock
to us that they've taken this move," he said.
Federal Parliament passed controversial legislation to
allow for control orders late last year.
The brother of Victorian man Jack Thomas has criticised the
reasons the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have given for placing an interim
control order on the former terrorism accused.
Jack Thomas has spent his first night at home under the
interim control order, just days after his terrorism conviction was
overturned.
Les Thomas has told the ABC's Lateline program
that his brother does not have links to the Indonesian extremist leader Abu
Bakar Bashir.
"I think it's an extraordinarily far-fetched idea," he
said.
"I think the only tenuous connection that I know of
relating to Abu Bakar Bashir is the fact that Maryati, Jack's wife, went to
school with a woman who later went on to marry him," he said.
"We cannot believe that this is the kind of thing that is
being dragged out and used to justify this action."
Les Thomas says the control order is a political stunt.
"Throughout my brother's entire case you've seen a
mythology built around the 'Jihad Jack' idea," he said.
"I think that this has aided the Government's agenda in
creating a kind of example - a sacrificial lamb, if you will - of my
brother.
"It's just an enormous setback for him personally."
Control order
Jack Thomas was convicted earlier this year of receiving
money from Al Qaeda, but the conviction was overturned by the Victorian Court of
Appeal.
The AFP sought permission to have the order imposed against
Mr Thomas, but that will be challenged in the Federal Court later this week.
Mr Thomas has to adhere to strict conditions,
including a curfew between the hours of midnight and 5:00am and having to report
to police three times a week.
His lawyer, Rob Stary, says Mr Thomas has also been
given a list of people he is not to contact, including some high-profile terror
figures.
"Why would you have a list for instance that included Osama
Bin Laden?" he said.
"Surely the authorities would want him to contact
Osama Bin Laden if there was ever the remotest possibility that he could so that
they could trace Osama Bin Laden and capture him."
'Sour grapes'
Liberty Victoria president Brian Walters says the AFP look
as though they are trying to make up for being embarrassed.
"It smacks of sour grapes, having been shown up for the
impropriety in which the Australian Federal Police were involved in Pakistan,
and having the interview rejected," he said.
"If ever there was a case where an end should have been
brought to it, this is that case."
Mr Walters says he is concerned for the health of Mr
Thomas, who has been undergoing psychiatric treatment.
"Of course it's going to have a massive impact on his
psychiatric condition, and of course it's very dangerous for him personally," he
said.
"This cannot be justified, in the light of the jury's
finding that he was not involved in any terrorist
activity."
