Four Corners ran Bondi story despite ASIO threats. Who to believe?

ASIO issued a warning on Monday. ABC about Four Corners The second episode, about the Bondi massacre, is being aired. ABC I made it work anyway. What was ASIO afraid of? Get Author asking?

When an intelligence agency threatens legal action against a broadcaster before a program is broadcast, something is wrong. Either the program is truly defamatory, or the organization is afraid of what will be revealed.

ABC’s Four Corners published monday night despite ASIO’s unprecedented preventive action warning.

Former undercover agent “Marcus” claims on the show warned ASIO In 2019, seventeen-year-old Naveed Akram was radicalized by ISIS cell members. ASIO investigated for six months, then concluded that there was no threat. But it is now clear that Akram’s connection to more than one person should have raised red flags.

ISIS links behind Bondi killers point everywhere but Gaza

What to understand from ASIO’s statement?

Misidentification?

ASIO’s statement is clear: “The ABC’s source misidentified Naveed Akram. That is, the source claimed that Naveed Akram said and did things that were actually said and done by a completely different person.”

It remains unclear whether ASIO meant Marcus misidentified Naveed in a particular conversation or was completely confused by him. ASIO also says: “This source also has a history of making untrue statements,” although it is unclear whether ASIO was referring to ‘Marcus’, his own agents or someone else.

However, there is possible evidence that contradicts claims that ‘Marcus’ did not know who Naveed Akram was. As reported by MWM, Wisam Haddad, the network’s so-called ‘spiritual leader’, stated in a now-deleted post that there was video footage of Marcus and Naveed together.

The 2022 YouTube link was later removed, but evidence, including a typo, suggests it existed.

Warnings about ISIS connections were ignored. Anatomy of the Bondi attacks

Haddad is the last person to benefit from making this claim, which was alleged long before this latest incident. Four Corners section. If Haddad knew his network and confirmed that they were together, the mistaken identity claim seems misplaced. Critically, this suggests ASIO operatives may be spying on Naveed Akram well beyond 2019.

Semantics

ASIO states: “We assessed that (Naveed) was not committed to or intended to engage in violent extremism at the time. “Having reviewed all available intelligence,

We stand behind our assessment at that moment.

This seems like semantics. No one is claiming that the Akrams are violent extremists in 2019. MWM And ABC They reported evidence that they were radicalized and collaborating with extremists who we know are potentially violent.

Add in gun licenses and trips to the Philippines, and one might think red flags should go up. The issue is not whether ASIO knew there would be an attack on the Hanukkah event on a particular day in 2019. The question is whether the warning signs are ignored.

How close is too close?

ASIO also rejects the claim that Naveed was a “close associate” of known terrorists: “There is a significant difference between going to a place of worship where there are large numbers of people and being a ‘close associate’ of known terrorists.”

Is this splitting hairs? We have evidence that Naveed was with multiple people accused of terrorism-related crimes or thought to be extremists. When there are multiple connections to people who are potentially of concern or in different contexts, how close is too close?

Youssef Uweinat: A known common who served almost four years to prepare minors to launch attacks through Haddad’s AMDC. Uweinat served as a youth leader at Haddad’s prayer center and photographed With the ISIS flag in August 2024, four months before Bondi.

Isaac El Matari declared himself ‘Islamic State’s Australian commander’ sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for plotting attacks on St Mary’s Cathedral and the American Embassy. Osman Bin Affan Mosque approved Naveed attended the 2019 Ramadan retreat together with El Matari, who was arrested in July 2019. Prime Minister Albanese approved Two people with whom Akram had relationships in 2019 were charged and imprisoned.

Mr Ye Ye and Street Dawah Network

In the 2019 videos, seventeen-year-old Naveed Akram stood outside Bankstown railway station and preached about Islam. The Street Cause Movement confirmed that Akram appeared in its videos “several times” in 2019. Australia ($), but he claimed that he was not a member and that none of his members knew him personally.

It is difficult to determine who ran Street Dawah, but many people affiliated with AMDC, including El Matari and others, were associated with Naveed’s Dawah activities.

Haddad was operating a street preaching ministry out of a van, officially registered in 2022. Haddad’s Dawah Van Incorporated was registered as a charity but stripped charitable status after Four Corners The episode has been released. Among those associated with the administration is Mr. Ye Ye, whom Four Corners describes as a recruiter for Haddad’s more radical efforts.

Perhaps ASIO’s secret intelligence confirms the 2019 assessments.

But until we explain how all these independent sources confirm what they claim is a misidentification, questions remain.

Fifteen families deserve answers about what was known, when it was known, and whether different decisions could have prevented this tragedy. The Royal Commission will decide whether these answers are available.