I remanded all of them in custody. The following is an edited extract of The Pursuit of Justice by Michael Finnane, QC: All three accused were Australian citizens whose parents had come from Lebanon. 18:49 EST 27 May 2018. It seems that the police learned from him that the woman had stabbed his friend as well. Australia's law defines rape as "unlawful sexual act with another person by force; without their consent." His demeanour in the court room said that. The first found that Middle-Eastern Australians reported more discrimination compared with non-Middle-Eastern Australians. 11:06 EST 27 May 2018 . , updated However, the victims' descriptions of the other men who attacked them were quite vague, as could be expected. News years have drawn attention to Lebanese crime and to police searches for suspects 'of Middle Eastern appearance'.10 Lebanese Muslim clerics such as Sheik Taj el-Din al Al-Hilali, known as the mufti or spiritual leader of Australia's Muslims and imam of the Sunni Mosque in Lakemba,11 or Sheikh Abdul Salam Zoud, are often in the news in . Praying for the injured, missing & dead, she wrote on Twitter. economy In other words, each man forced his penis into her mouth and ejaculated. I was the judge who dealt with these trials. The victim was taken from the station area and forced into public toilets where four men in this group sexually assaulted her, with one of them assaulting her twice. When I commenced the summing up, I said this: This is the twenty-first century since the birth of Christ; we are not in the nineteenth, eighteenth or seventeenth centuries. UAE Expat families: 2.640 USD. Little is known regarding the health and lifestyle behaviours of Australians of Lebanese ethnicity. Facing racism at school and pressure at home, children from Middle Eastern families in Australia are dragged into world of organized crime and ethnic bloodletting, Lebanese youths are searched by Australian police in Sydney. Major Joyce Harmer of the Salvation Army was in court as a support person for her and I am sure this helped her greatly when she was giving evidence. The commission of a crime that shocked the Lebanese, who numbered 70 to 90,000 between expatriates and descendants in the city. In the face of such catastrophic ruin, the only option local residents had was to help. In the park, each girl was dragged by the neck to a different part of the park and forced to let these men have oral sex with her. Average rent in Canberra. Why was the third victim plucked from a train? [6] These criminal organizations are mostly based around extended criminal clans. Mohammed Skaf was charged, like his brother Bilal, with two counts of sexual intercourse without consent because he had arranged for the girl to be made available to his brother and others to have sexual intercourse with the victim. None of the accused or the victims had been drinking alcohol and none had been taking drugs, even though having marijuana was an inducement offered to the two girls. One of the dead was Sarkis Abboud, 61 years old, and the second was his friend, Tony Yazbek, two years younger. There was no evidence that any offences were committed because of religious or cultural or racial reasons and, in fact, there had been no mention of religion at any time in the trial. It came as a surprise to me that nothing was going to be presented to me by counsel for Bilal Skaf. Our initial goal was 10,000. Hamzy, 44, was gunned down in the . The first community of Lebanese in Australia were Maronite Christians, quickly followed by a large Muslim community. investment Earlier we met Redfern-based Frank Hakim, the first major Lebanese criminal in Sydney, and younger men such as Louis Bayeh and Danny Karam. I also told them to put out of their minds any religious or racial views they had. trot Latest news from Some people believe that Melbourne gangs are behind the new wave of crimes, but the numbers tell us that most unique offenders are Australia-born youths between the ages of 15 to 25. they deserve nothing less and we'd be making the world a better place. The Pursuit of Justice, published by New Holland Publishers, RRP $35, is available from all good book retailers or online at New Holland Publishers. 'Many of the victims, I am sure, will be affected by these crimes for the whole of their lives. I will clean up, I will repair what I can repair, and then Ill live there. This then meant there was not sufficient evidence against him of identification. meadowbrook country club estates; michael mullen obituary; pamela gluckin obituary new york; antonio tonyboy floirendo jr biography She does not have to fight to the death to protect herself from sexual assault. That is not the law. Its just amazing to see how much traction it got, Diana Abbas, director of Impact Lebanon, says. The geographic heartland of Australias 100,000-strong Lebanese community, its red brick apartments and cement-sheet homes are peppered with mosques, musallas and churches. Both of the Skafs were convicted. The four men in this other car all raped this unfortunate young girl, who was then hosed down until she was soaking wet and forced out of the car that she was in near the Catholic Club at Lidcombe. Frequently, whilst sitting in the dock, he clicked his fingers towards his counsel, summoning him over. Lebanon has a population of approximately 4.6 million, with 18 recognised distinct religious . The evidence showed Mohammed Skaf to be a treacherous bully who betrayed the trust of the victim and made her, a sixteen-year old school girl, available to his brother and ten or eleven other men. But these days its worse. International What we found was that in a matter of weeks they were excelling the other kids in school. Lebanese migration to Australia occurred in the three main waves. The criminal justice system judged and punished the perpetrators. Skaf was talking on a mobile phone to other people in Arabic. There was no application that I should do otherwise. 'There were other sexual assault cases I heard, some of children, some of adult women,' Finnane writes. In my view, all of these men remain a continuing threat to the Sydney community and particularly to young women. The three of them lived with their parents in houses in the suburbs surrounding Bankstown. It is across the street from the Lebanese central bank in Beirut, the Associated Press reported. It was because the police had given up fighting back. The gang assaulted the two girls, by punching and kicking them and, of course, by dragging them across a park by the neck. Neither Ghanem nor Hajeid gave evidence and their cases were run on the basis that the girls could not identify them but that, of course, became very difficult for them when Bilal Skaf gave evidence that placed them at the park. To give you an idea of what to expect, here are some rent averages for the most popular cities in Australia. America I pointed out at the time that he was likely to get the biggest sentence ever imposed for these sort of offences and surely he would want to present something to ameliorate his part in these crimes. new All three men put pressure on her to agree to have sex with them but she refused. Australia enjoys friendly bilateral relations with Lebanon, underpinned by strong people-to-people links. The two girls were unaware of the red van until sometime after the men in the white van conveyed them to a park at Greenacre some hours later. The plan was to kidnap, degrade, sexually assault and humiliate. The available evidence suggests that Australians of Lebanese ethnicity who were born in Lebanon reportedly have higher rates of cardiovascular disease-related and type 2 diabetes-related complications when compared with the wider Australian population. Lebanon's national archives are located in a building that houses two ministries. Lebanese move to west Africa, escaping the crisis at home A new wave of migrants has come looking for jobs Jun 10th 2021 W HEN BANKS started to fail and protesters began filling the streets in. The Ones That Didnt Make It: Australia-Bound Refugees Languish in Indonesia, Circle Sentencing: Alternative Justice in Australia, Wildfires Scorch Australia As Temperatures Reach Record Highs, Nelson Mandelas Extraordinary Life: An Interactive Timeline, How Did Gaddafi Die? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Life cannot. Each girl denied this and gave evidence that Skaf, and those with him in the white van, persistently put pressure on them to engage in oral sex in the van on the way to Greenacre. 'I do not think it is correct. Taxpayers can be assured their money wont end up in the pockets of corrupt officials, according to Lex Bartlem, who served as Australian ambassador to Beirut between 2010 and 2014. Once you got into the zone where you are powerful and people are scared of you, you dont want to stop. In the past there was a code among crime gangs in Sydney that bodies in the street were bad for business, says Michael Duffy, the author of Drive By, a new novel about a Lebanese crime family and the efforts of a bigoted, dispirited police force to lock them up. Although Lebanese are to be found throughout Australia . Dec 13, 2005. She was reading a book of English literature, when a group of men led by Mohammed Skaf surrounded her and commenced to assault her indecently. The existence of criminal activity among these communities is not the issue. For thousands of Lebanese Australians residing in Lebanon, the opportunity to return to Australia at any point provides a psychological safety net. With all of us getting used to working on Zoom and Slack, its become easier to work with people from different cities.. They are also willing to purchase from Chinese importers and to wholesale to other groups, such as Romanian and Lebanese dealers. He and the others who accompanied him then dragged the unfortunate girl to the middle of the park where they pulled of her clothes and proceeded to run their hands over her body. All rights reserved. It is also possible that there were other victims who have never come forward. The way we have been connecting is through Slack, getting visuals out on social media to attract peoples attention, and direct people in a very structured way as to how they can help, she explains. Each of Ghanem and Hajeid's counsel put forward arguments that they had not been properly identified and were not present. By 2016, the year of Australia . The second trial had two accused only, Bilal Skaf and Mohammed Skaf, his younger brother. Why did the gang first of all go to a shopping centre at Chatswood? Then it was reported from the police, that its investigators were trying to find a driver, who they believe transported the appellant from Brunswick, where the crime was committed, to the Carlton North area, where she was arrested, and said that he was wearing a dark-colored jacket with boxes in the back seat of his car, in addition to a breathing tube. The evidence of the two girls was probably sufficient in its own right to identify Bilal Skaf because he had many conversations with them on the night and he left a condom full of his semen in the park where he and others sexually assaulted these two girls. Still, the enormity of the tragedy requires a monumental effort to rebuild the shattered city. Meanwhile Bilal Skaf and others with him got into the van in which they had come to the park and drove around to the telephone box where one of them produced a gun and ordered her to get inside. Religious law has the same standing as civil law, which incorporates family law, marriage, divorce and custody. It is a crime that assaults human dignity. The trial for these ofences was particularly horrifying. Lebanon.. 'These were not random attacks and, in my view, they were aimed at creating terror in the community. The girl was just sixteen years old. The Lebanese got a bad reputation after the 2000 Sydney gang rapes where 9 Lebanese-Australian youths gang raped several Anglo-Australian women in multiple attacks over the course of 2 months. Those who pleaded guilty, were given lesser sentences than those who pleaded not guilty, because the law provided for this. Bilal Skaf sat throughout the sentencing process looking as if he could not care less about any of it. The jury considered this very carefully and were out considering their verdicts for a number of days but, when they came back, they convicted the three accused on all charges. Surprised by Lebanese officials audaciously asking for Australian money for personal reasons, Bartlem refused to process their requests further. By KAREEM CHEHAYEB February 27, 2023. Ghanem was convicted of various offences at this trial but was later acquitted by direction of the Court of Criminal Appeal, which ruled that certain evidence tendered by the Crown, and allowed by me to be given in the trial, should not have been admitted. A range of factors impinge upon criminal behaviour . To my mind, the community deserved to be protected from Bilal Skaf for many years. Growing up in western Sydney, I was bullied and picked on for everything I did and stood for. In the mid-1960s he obtained the protection of Lennie McPherson and proceeded to provide protection himself to Lebanese and other ethnic gaming clubs. This trial concerned violent sexual assaults on a young woman of 18 who was travelling home by train on an afternoon on 30 August 2000. Indeed, when he was being taken away after I imposed sentence on him, he turned to me and said, 'And I am innocent, you c***t!' Skaf was a small man, rather thin, with black hair and a sharp face. Glass was blown out blown out with such a high velocity that there are shards of glass embedded in some of my furniture, almost dagger-like, she says. The gang also crash-tackled, punched and kicked these girls and stole items of jewellery that they had on them. 3. I wont be packing up., For Melki, staying in Lebanon isnt simply about a place of residence, its about justice. One of the victims, an 18-year-old woman, was raped 40 times by 14 men over four hours in an attack coordinated by mobile phone. If a person who is guilty, pleads guilty, anxiety and stress to the victims is removed and it is reasonable to give lesser sentences. And given the history of government efforts to obtain information on race, Im not even sure its something we should be doing. Killing and shooting and illegal activity have become part of daily life. Many of these diaspora networks, including Impact Lebanon, emerged following mass anti-government protests in Lebanon in October 2019. Sexual intercourse without consent was the principal crime contemplated and committed. With Covid-19 restrictions preventing Lebanese Australians from holding in-person activities, such as fundraising events and protests, local activists like Maakasa are relying on Instagram and Facebook to generate support. That is not the law. He agreed that his client showed no remorse and no contrition. Knowing this much corruption gives me more reason not to leave Lebanon. But to this day Finnane is regularly asked about the Skaf case, sometimes by strangers, at social functions and on other unexpected occasions. But the central bank, Banque du Liban, led by former Merrill Lynch banker Riad Salameh . This means that many other gangs of boys are doing the same crimes. Video Until this point, Hajeid and Ghanem had been on bail. 26 May . These two girls did not expect to be driven over the Harbour Bridge. The same trial process occurred as happened in the first trial and during my summing up I made the same remarks about the entitlement of a woman to say no. The devastation has profoundly touched Australia's 250,000-strong Lebanese community, with the immediate sense of despair now transitioning to a desperate urge to assist. Thats whats so disturbing., Lebanese-born educator Keysar Trad believes criminality in the community is a by-product of overly strict parents who expect their children to excel at school, and racism in the classroom and playground that prevents them from doing so. It is often difficult to predict whether there will be rehabilitation. The number of perpetrators of these crimes has been climbing steadily in recent years, with around six thousand imprisoned in 2021, compared to around half of this number who were imprisoned for. Finnane dealt with sadistic rapists before and after the Skaf cases. The two victims were schoolgirls who were wandering around a shopping centre at Chatswood on 10 August 2000 about nine o'clock at night. France The evidence of the two girls was given in closed court hearings but I permitted the press to have access to the transcripts of the evidence on the basis that the names of the two girls were not revealed and no photographs were taken of them. The men in the red van also sexually assaulted them in the same fashion, as well as punching them and kicking them. His co-accused on the other hand, were quiet and restrained in their manner. Bilal Skaf was one of the people who then approached the victim whom he grabbed by the hair. It was obviously carefully planned and skilfully executed. At some time after this first trial began, I was informed that there were other trials involving the same men and other men in which kidnapping, forced sexual intercourse and other assaults were involved. National; Crime; How Skaf rape gang trapped their victims. The young girl who was the victim of these rapes could identify Mohammed Skaf, whom she knew well. Confined at home due to Victorias lockdown, Maakasa has taken to social media to connect with others in the Lebanese diaspora across the world and offer assistance however she can. Before we can solve it we need to understand it, he says, and Im not sure we do.. I cannot recall any other evidence being presented by him or on his behalf. For example, I had to explain that sexual intercourse was not, as many people might think, only penetration of the vagina of a woman by the penis of a man, but extended to penetration of any part of the body of a person by any part of the body of another. You do what you can.. Michael Finnane, the judge who imposed that record sentence - which was later reduced after several appeals - was widely celebrated for his stance at the time. Subsequent migration was steady until an influx occurred surrounding the Arab . But when I was older and more Lebanese kids moved to my area, we formed a gang so we could protect each other and I started bullying back. 'All of them were examples of depravity and cruelty. I considered that I should say these words because it was important that the jury and anyone listening to the trial, including the accused, have a full realisation that a woman has to do nothing more than refuse consent. Unlike many of the rape cases of which I am aware, there was no previous contact between any of the perpetrators and the victims, except for the second one in which Mohammed Skaf selected a sixteen-year-old from his school to be a victim. Lebanese Migration to Australia There have been three main waves of immigration from Lebanon to Australia. Source: AAP. In Germany these clans mostly settled in Berlin, Bremen and Essen where they became involved in narcotics trafficking, weapons trafficking, extortion, prostitution, illegal gambling, car theft, money laundering and armed robbery. 'What the Skaf gang did was to enable multiple men to defile and degrade four young women. Mobile phone technology was used on each occasion to coordinate the attacks, which were well planned and carried out with determination by young men, one as young as fourteen, the oldest being Bilal Skaf at twenty-one years of age. Worldwide pandemic lockdowns have only made it easier for Lebanese expats to coordinate. The police arrested the perpetrator of the crime as she climbed to the tram, after people called who reported a woman with blood. Another car then pulled up which had in it, amongst others, Mohammed Skaf. Deputy Commissioner for Investigations and Counter Terrorism Dave Hudson.Daniel Munoz EXTRACT: After the sentences were imposed, many people would say things like, 'I'm glad you got those Lebs,' but I found myself trying to explain that I did not 'get those Lebs' at all. Manorama Online The crime was comparable to Lebanese gang rapes in Sydney. My apartment, like others close to the blast, is . Within these neighbourhoods lies the ravaged home of award-winning Lebanese-Australian journalist Rania Abouzeid. The Beqaa Valley, a fertile valley in east Lebanon and one of the country's most important farming regions, is also known for being one of the most important cannabis cultivating regions in the Middle East. I wouldnt even put the request through to Canberra that the Lebanese government wanted direct funding, because it would go nowhere., That level of overt corruption is only too familiar for ordinary Lebanese, who blame government negligence and mismanagement for the devastating blast. The 1995 NSW Legislative Council standing committee on social issues reported that while Lebanese-Australian youth comprise 0.9% of . Whatever they might have done in those centuries, the law is now perfectly clear - any woman is entitled to refuse consent to sexual intercourse at any time. id send all the ones in Australia back to lebanon and then drop a bomb. His attitude was the same throughout the trial. The press was also prevented from providing any likenesses or descriptions of the accused or their racial origins. He was the gang boss and the organiser of everything that happened. I directed that he be known only as 'H', but his identity was not revealed in this first trial. There was also evidence that each of the accused and the men in the red van abused the girls, calling them 'sluts' and threatened retribution on them if either of them had VD or AIDS. Why did those who joined him, become involved? Arab world He told them they could expect there to be media publicity and that they should ignore anything they read outside court. The damage is extensive, like all the other apartments in the area. This also caused these girls great concern. I also told the jury that 'this is not a court of morals' and explained that they might not approve of the conduct of some of the participants because they thought they were acting immorally, but that was not the question at all. Among them is one Australian, with as many as 300,000 made homeless. The gang's ringleader, Skaf, denied his role in the crimes despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt and showed no remorse even after he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. The complainant, who had been sexually assaulted by fourteen men something like forty times over four hours, could not identify him. However, these crimes were of secondary importance. Lebanese organized crime syndicates generally are active globally, largely due to the mass Arab population. Political news Lebanese organized crime syndicates generally are active . I then summed up the entire case, dealing with all the evidence, all the arguments and the law that applied. What was it that caused Bilal Skaf to carefully plan this series of attacks on young women in Sydney? Authorities have stopped Australians and Australian-Lebanese dual nationals, including mothers with children, from leaving Lebanon. Skaf and the members of this gang clearly wanted public recognition for what they had done. Lebanese Crime, Official Cowardice In Australia. That is my hope. [1] Due to the vast international Arab diaspora and along with a certain amount of organized criminals active in their respective communities, the Beqaa Valley has become one of the most infamous marijuana and hashish exporting regions in the world. A GANG war over drug turf that has been simmering for two decades has erupted into a series of public shootings that has turned Fairfield in western Sydney into Australia's most dangerous suburb.

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