Terror charge dropped against Vic teen

A Melbourne teenager who was accused by prosecutors with plotting a terrorist attack on Australia’s solemnest day, Anzac Day, has had his charges dropped on Tuesday.

Causevic was one of five teenagers arrested over an alleged plot to carry out an attack during the annual Anzac Day march in Melbourne in April.

Australian Federal Police formally withdrew the charge against 18-year-old Harun Causevic of conspiring to commit an act of terror and released him on bail.

The Melbourne man was held under Victoria’s first preventative detention order and remanded in custody.

But, as revealed by Fairfax Media on Monday, the major terror charge against Mr Causevic was dropped on Tuesday in Melbourne Magistrates Court.

Instead, Causevic pleaded guilty to three charges of weapon possession, including an AK-47 police found hidden under his bed following counter-terrorism raids earlier this year.

They’ve also said that Mr Causevic was seeking an Australian passport, and had sought to obtain weapons, including knives.

Causevic did not comment as he walked from court with his head down, flanked by his mother, father and sister.

In a statement, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) said, “The CDPP conducted an independent assessment of all available admissible evidence in accordance with the Prosecution Policy of the Commonwealth, and formed the view that there was insufficient evidence to continue the prosecution of Mr Causevic for this offence”.

The dropping of the charges against Mr Causevic will be embarrassing for authorities, but it underlines the serious difficulty police have in when to move against people they suspect of planning an attack, and when to charge them.

Mr Besim, 18, of Hallam, faced court via video link on Tuesday and was remanded in custody ahead of a two-day committal hearing due to start on December 16.

In affidavits sworn in the case already, federal agents have alleged that Mr Causevic was nearby when his friend, Numan Haider, was shot by police at Endeavour Hills police station a year ago after Haider tried to stab two officers.

The British boy, 15, last month pleaded guilty to incitement after telling Mr Besim via social media to break into someone’s home and “get your first taste of beheading”.

They also alleged that Mr Causevic watched police in April and waved a black flag with white Arabic writing on it toward officers. The teen is due to return to court in November.

Deputy chief magistrate Jelena Popovic said she was not entitled to take Causevic’s 127 days of incarceration into consideration when considering the sentence for the weapons charges, as they were separate.