Seven people constituting “an unacceptable risk and threat” to the Australian population were arrested during anti-terrorist searches which mobilized more than four hundred members of the police on Wednesday April 24, said the Australian police, who initially mentioned five arrests. The seven individuals arrested are all minors, she said.
Two police officers said the arrested individuals were linked to the 16-year-old who stabbed a Sydney bishop in mid-April and had adhered to a “religiously motivated extremist ideology”. It is “likely” the group was planning an attack, although no specific targets have been identified, senior New South Wales police officer Dave Hudson said.
“Their behavior while they were under surveillance led us to believe that, if they were to commit an act, we would not be able to prevent it,” he told the press, before add: “During the investigation we believed it was likely that an attack would occur. »
On April 15, Mar Mari Emmanuel, bishop of an Assyrian church in Sydney, was stabbed in the head and chest by a 16-year-old boy during a live-streamed sermon. The attack sparked a riot among worshipers at the church, located in the western suburbs of Sydney. The cleric, who had a large internet audience of nearly 200,000 people, became known for criticizing Islam, Covid-19 vaccines, as well as for his violently anti-LGBTQ sermons. The police quickly described the teenager's act as "terrorist", triggering the opening of an investigation by a team bringing together federal police forces and intelligence services.
Intelligence investigates 'racist extremist network'
In the context of the terrorist threat in the country, the head of Australian intelligence, Mike Burgess, on Wednesday called on major technology platforms (like Apple, Google and Microsoft) for more cooperation, asking them to provide access limited to encrypted messages, a long-standing taboo. “Without their help in very limited and strictly controlled circumstances, encryption escapes accountability,” he stressed.
Burgess said message encryption has compromised the ability of intelligence services to detect threats, and technology groups would have a duty to remove encryption when requested. “Encryption is clearly a good thing, a positive thing for our democracy and our economy,” he said. But “it also protects terrorists and spies, saboteurs and heinous criminals.”
Mr Burgess said Australian intelligence was currently investigating a “racist extremist network” using encrypted messaging. “This network shares vile propaganda, advises on weapons manufacturing, and discusses how to provoke a race war,” he added.
Large digital companies are opposed to the idea of providing access to encrypted messages, arguing that it would pose a threat to cybersecurity and user privacy. The chief of the Australian Federal Police, Reece Kershaw, notably designated Meta, which set up an end-to-end encryption system for the social network Facebook and the Facebook Messenger messaging service.
