(NCA NewsWire) One of Australia’s most infamous domestic terrorists has won a legal bid to restore his citizenship.
Abdul Nacer Benbrika launched a High Court bid to the legality of the former Morrison government’s powers to strip citizenship for convicted terrorists as the threat of deportation loomed.
Benbrika, who migrated to Australia from Algeria in 1989, had his citizenship cancelled by former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in 2020 after completing a 15-year sentence on terrorism offences.
On Wednesday, the High Court ruled in his favour in a 6-1 decision, finding Section 36D of the Australian Citizenship Act is invalid and Benbrika is an Australian citizen.
The majority decision followed a similar ruling in June last year that suspected terrorists cannot be punished by ministers removing their citizenship.
