Melbourne Teen’s Father Calls It A ‘Set-up’ To Charge His Son For Anzac Day Terror Plan

Harun Causevic’s father said that it was a “set up” to get his 18-year-old charged with conspiring to commit a terrorist. Causevic was one of the five teenagers arrested during a raid over the weekend.

The father was speaking outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court after his son had been charged on Tuesday. 'That is all a set-up,' he said when asked if he wanted to say something about his son’s involvement. Causevic is accused of plotting a terror attack during the Anzac Day commemorations.

Magistrate Cathy Lamble held a brief hearing while defence lawyer Rob Stary said that his client would apply for bail. Stary said that his client had no prior convictions. He argued that it was disagreeable to find such a young person to have been kept in the maximum security unit of Barwon Prison. The prison is the toughest in Victoria that keeps the most dangerous offenders.

Causevic is apparently kept alongside serious criminals like Matthew Charles Johnson who killed Carl Willams. The Hampton Park teenager’s lawyer asked the magistrate to have him removed from the unit.

The teenager was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. He kept silent during the process as he was not required to speak. Causevic’s father broke down in court and held his head in his hands. Another 18-year-old young man, Sevdet Besim, was earlier charged with “conspiracy to commit acts done in preparation for, or planning, terrorist acts.”

A 14-year-old British teenager, suspected to be preparing for an act of terrorism, was also arrested overnight. According to Britain’s North West Counter Terrorism Unit, the Blackburn teenager was a “credible terrorist threat.” Officers from the unit tracked a communication between the teenager and an Australian man.

Australian authorities have been informed about the communication that led Victoria Police to perform the Operation Rising raids on Saturday. It has not yet been clear which one among the arrested teenagers was communicating with the British teenager.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Mole said that the British teenager had been arrested on Apr. 18. The North West Counter Terrorism Unit official said the young man was in police custody. “As soon as this information came to light we acted quickly with the relevant authorities here and abroad. The nature of the communication is currently under full assessment and subject to investigation,” he said.

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