Melbourne man charged with possessing violent extremist material

A Melbourne man accused of possessing violent extremist propaganda for Islamic State has been arrested while trying to fly to the Middle East.

The Roxburgh Park man, 30, was arrested at Melbourne Airport overnight by the Australian Federal Police and charged with possessing violent extremist material, a charge which has a maximum sentence of five years’ jail.

The man is the sixth Melbourne man charged after allegedly being part of a group chat in which extremist material was shared and received.

He was also charged with contravening a requirement in the Crimes Act to provide access to his electronic devices when issued with a court order.

The AFP said in a statement that electronic devices were seized during a search at a Roxburgh Park home on May 7, and a subsequent specialist forensic examination identified alleged Islamic State-inspired violent extremist material.

AFP Counterterrorism Commander Paula Hudson said the Roxburgh Park man arrested on Sunday was part of a dedicated online network “motivated by sharing and distributing violent extremist material, including ISIS propaganda”.

She said early intervention for these types of offences was vital to ensure individuals did not escalate to violence, and warned that the AFP would identify those wanting to harm the Australian community and “bring you to justice”.

“Creating and sharing violent extremist material can be the gateway to terrorism. It desensitises individuals, including youth, to violence and creates a permissive environment to normalise hate,” Hudson said.

“Let me be extremely clear – this harmful content holds no place in our society. The sharing and distribution of extremist material, including images and videos of graphic acts of violence such as beheadings, shootings, bombings, rape and violent assaults is unacceptable in our community.”

Police arrested and charged four men on May 8 – Sulamain Sarwari, Adian Sarwari, Mohammad Ahmadzai and Azan Syed – alleging they shared and received images and videos of previous terrorist attacks and other IS propaganda.

A fifth man, a 25-year-old from Meadow Heights, was arrested on his return to Melbourne from Malaysia on May 16 and was also charged with possession of violent extremist material.

In May, an AFP spokesman said police were first alerted to the men’s alleged activity in November 2024, when a teenager from Roxburgh Park returned to Melbourne from Turkey and had his luggage searched during a routine examination by the Australian Border Force at Melbourne Airport.

This examination uncovered suspicious content on the teen’s phone, the spokesman said. The same thing happened when another teen from Roxburgh Park returned from Turkey on June 1 last year.