A Victorian terrorist convicted over a plot to sail a fishing boat from northern Australia to overthrown the Philippines government is set to be released from jail with strict conditions on his freedom.
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Murat Kaya's is due to be freed "imminently" according to a Federal Court judge who on Wednesday placed the 29-year-old under a control order, preventing him from travelling overseas or using social media.
Kaya, one of the so-called tinny terrorists, pleaded guilty in February 2019 to preparing for an incursion into a foreign country.
Islamic State sympathiser Robert "Musa" Cerantonio, Kadir Kaya, Paul Dacre, Antonio Granata and Shayden Thorne were arrested in May 2016 as they drove with a 7.5-metre boat toward Cape York.
Murat Kaya was arrested in Melbourne weeks later, having been part of the planning. He was jailed for three years and eight months.
Kaya argued at a hearing on Monday that the Federal Court didn't have the power to impose strict conditions upon his release from jail, but Justice Paul Anastassiou disagreed and put an interim order in place on Wednesday.
Kaya won't be able to leave the country and can only leave Victoria with approval from police. He'll have to abide by an overnight curfew and report to police twice a week.
He has also been barred from using any phone, using social media apps including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Telegram, or online gaming.
He's prohibited from associating with anyone in prison, except for his brother and fellow tinny terrorist Kadir Kaya.
Kaya won't be able to communicate with any of the other plotters.
In sentencing, Supreme Court Justice Michael Croucher said the co-offenders' release at the earliest opportunity would foster rehabilitation and better protect the community in the long-term.
Months later Kaya wrote about his desire to change.
"I deeply regret what I have done and how my actions have affected all those around me and would like to now make it up to all my love ones by becoming the best person I can be," he said.
But Justice Anastassiou noted on Wednesday that "there is no evidence that he no longer holds extreme ideological beliefs..."
The interim order will remain in place until June when a hearing has been scheduled to finalise it.
Australian Associated Press
