A MUSLIM group has responded to the latest anti-terrorism raids in Victoria by criticising Australian law, which it calls draconian and unjust. The group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, is also calling for the removal of US embassies from the Muslim world in response to the killing of America’s ambassador in Libya.
“We reiterate that the root cause for terrorism is Western foreign policy in the Muslim world,” said Uthman Badar, spokesman for Hizb ut-Tahrir in Australia.
The Victorian raids, which led to the arrest of a 23-year-old man and uncovered guns and extremist propaganda, have been supported by Melbourne’s Muslim community.
“The raids were carried out by police, by the state,” Mr Badar told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.
“Whether anyone else supports that is their decision to make.”
Mr Badar declined to directly condemn terrorism.
“We would rather keep the focus on where it should be … There are people who have condemned 9/11 until they have run out of breath,” he said.
“Has that changed anything? I leave the rhetoric for the politicians.”
He described Australia’s anti-terrorism laws as draconian and unjust.
“They’ve done away with the requirement for there being a guilty act as well as a guilty mind, and the need for solid evidence and ability to carry out a particular crime,” he said.
“These laws seek to criminalise ideas and put Islam on trial.”
He said US embassies should be removed from the Muslim world because they were primarily “tools for colonial exploitation”.
There would be no tolerance for videos like the one that appeared on YouTube and reportedly sparked the raids on the US Embassy in Libya, which killed four Americans, including the ambassador.
“Insulting the prophet will not be tolerated,” Mr Badar said.
“Those who justify this (video) in the name of freedom of expression put themselves offside with two billion Muslims around the world.
“They should hold themselves accountable for the consequences that this brings.
“We do not condone the killing of diplomats but this is not the point.”
Mr Badar refused to say how many Australians were members of his group, which seeks to establish a global Islamic caliphate and has been banned in some Asian and Arab countries.