(Sydney Morning Herald) A Sydney man who had “grandiose” plans to commit a terrorist act in Australia before attempting to travel to Pakistan to join Islamic State fighters on the front lines has been sentenced to just over seven years’ jail for the terrorist offences.
Isaac El Matari, now 22, admitted to being a member of Islamic State and pleaded guilty in the NSW Supreme Court to two charges: planning terrorist attacks on Australian soil, and preparing to engage in foreign fighting with the terrorist group in Afghanistan. The maximum penalty for each offence is life in prison.
In March 2019, El Matari went on two shopping trips to a hunting and technical supplies store in St Marys, checking out binoculars and ammunition before purchasing a cream-coloured tactical vest he took home and wore around his apartment building before placing it in a suitcase he intended to take to Pakistan.
