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Members of the Australian Muslim community place floral tributes amongst thousands of others near the Lindt cafe, where hostages were held for over 16-hours, in central Sydney December 16, 2014. Heavily armed Australian police stormed the Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning and freed a number of hostages being held there at gunpoint, in a dramatic end to a 16-hour siege in which three people including the attacker were killed. REUTERS/David Gray

Sulayman Khalid’s family has said that the terror suspect is innocent and should be released. The 20-year-old man was arrested by counter-terrorism investigators in 2014.

Khalid faced Central Local Court by video link from Goulburn Jail on Wednesday. His mother Domenica Biscotto defended her son outside the court. She said that her son had committed no crime. Biscotto referred to her son’s religious faith in Islam as a reason behind the arrest. She requested the Parliament to “stop playing political games” by blaming someone purely based on their faith.

Khalid’s father, Abu Sulayman, complained outside court that he had not been allowed to meet his son in prison. "When I saw him on the screen, I felt very emotionally, I couldn't control my tears actually in my eyes," ABC News quotes him. No details of the charges against the terror suspect have been made public yet.

Khalid’s family has also claimed that the only difference in Khalid’s treatment is that he is a Muslim. The family of Khalid, also known as Abu Bakr, has claimed that the seized documents did not belong to their son.

Khalid is charged with possessing documents related to a terrorist attack. When the Sydney man was arrested, AFP Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan revealed that, according to the seized documents, federal and state government entities were potential targets of the terrorist attack. However, there was no specific time frame or targets in the document.

Khalid’s lawyer Zali Burrows said in Central Local Court on Wednesday that she, along with barrister Ian Barker QC, would like to have the “remaining” parts of the Commonwealth DPP’s brief of evidence. She said that there would be an application within a couple of weeks ““to dismiss the prosecution” against Khalid. “We need the remaining items to prepare the application,” The Daily Telegraph quotes Burrows.

Khalid’s mother asked the Muslim community in the country to do more for her son’s release. The case will return to court on Mar. 18.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@IBTimes.com.au