Wednesday, August 23, 2006
STAND TAKEN
Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy sends Faheem Khalid Lodhi away for 20 years:
Sentencing Lodhi, 36 of Lakemba, to a maximum term of 20 years, with a 15-year non-parole period, Justice Anthony Whealy said while there was little case law to guide him, the courts must take a stand against terrorism.
“It may be argued that the imposition of stern penalties, in the context of firm denunciatory statements, will not in fact deter those whose religious and political ideologies are extreme and fanatical. But a stand must be taken,’’ he said.
“The community is owed this protection even if the obstinancy and madness of extreme views may mean that the protection is a fragile and uncertain one.’‘
Well said. Congratulations to Razor for coming closest to tipping this result.
UPDATE. AAP—which is disinclined to examine matters of race and religion—reports:
An architect has been jailed for at least 15 years after becoming the first person convicted of planning a terrorist attack on Australian soil.
UPDATE II. Meanwhile, in the UK:
A woman with an eight-month-old child and her husband appeared in court yesterday among 11 people charged in connection with a plot to blow up transatlantic airliners.