Foreign fighter trial: Kiwi told to use apps to avoid detection, court hears

Amin Mohamed

A Kiwi who allegedly tried to join the conflict in Syria was advised to use online messaging apps to avoid detection by authorities, a court has been told.

Melbourne resident Amin Mohamed, 25, has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempting to enter a foreign state to engage in hostile activities in September 2013.

He is accused of obtaining a New Zealand passport, booking a flight to Istanbul and accepting the contact details of a man named Omar, all with the intention of travelling to Syria.

Somali-born Mohamed came to New Zealand as a refugee in the 1990s, attended Lynfield College and graduated with a business degree at AUT.

In a recorded telephone conversation played at his Victorian Supreme Court trial today, Mohamed and a second man discussed moving all their communication to the Viber app so they could avoid calling each other's mobile numbers.

Yesterday, the court heard he had coded phone conversations about Syria before quitting his job and booking a one-way ticket to Turkey.

Crown prosecutor Lesley Taylor QC told a the court on Monday that Mohamed had been recorded having phone conversations with a man named Handi Alqudsi in which the pair discussed travel to Syria.

The conversations reveal Mohamed knew Alqudsi was organising the travel of others who, like him, were travelling to Syria, Ms Taylor said.

Early in September 2013, Alqudsi told Mohamed he had just received a message from overseas about a "big job" coming up involving "1500 brothers", the court heard.

Mohamed used four different phones to have conversations about that big job, Ms Taylor said.

He referred to other travellers as "doctors" and "soccer players", called Alqudsi "the coach" and called Istanbul "Isabelle", and the crown alleges these were codes used to avoid detection by authorities.

"You will also hear phrases suggesting they don't want to talk on the phone," Ms Taylor said.

She said there was evidence Mohamed had no intention of returning to Australia after flying to Turkey, as he had quit his job just two weeks after receiving a promotion, and had sold his car.

He told his employer he was resigning because his mother was terminally ill and he was taking her back to her home country to die.

But he later told authorities he was travelling to a Turkey on the way to Denmark where he was to meet his fiancee, the jury heard.

Mohamed had a flight booked from Brisbane to Istanbul on September 21, 2013, but was prevented from leaving the country after his passport was cancelled.

Defence barrister Julian McMahon yesterday said the jury must consider what the evidence revealed about Mohamed's intent to engage in hostile activities in Syria.

"Don't pre-judge," Mr McMahon told the jury.

"You don't have all the evidence."

The trial continues before Justice Lex Lasry.

- AAP