SYDNEY (AP) — A 15-year-old boy who claimed to be a friend of a teen accused of stabbing a Sydney bishop applied Wednesday to be released from custody on bail on a charge of planning a terrorist attack.
The 15-year-old is one of six teens, ages 14 to 17, who were charged in a Sydney court last week with a range of offenses including conspiring to engage in or planning a terrorist act. All remain in custody.
Police alleged they all “adhered to a religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology” and were part of a network that included a 16-year-old boy charged with stabbing an Assyrian Orthodox bishop and priest on April 15 as a church service was being streamed online.
The 15-year-old’s lawyer, Ahmed Dib, argued in the Parramatta Children’s Court that Magistrate James Viney should allow his client to be released on bail due to exceptional circumstances.