Kamer Nizamdeen to sue NSW Police

Colombo (News 1st) - The New South Wales Police has dropped the terrorism charges against Sri Lankan national Kamer Nizamdeen, who was accused of plotting to assassinate Australian politicians. However, the NSW police has refused to apologise to Nizamdeen, claiming that the investigation was still ongoing and investigators had acted in good faith. Nizamdeen was arrested in August by NSW’s Joint Counter-Terrorism Team and accused him of plotting Islamic State-inspired lone-wolf attacks targeting the Opera House, other notable landmarks, and the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull. The prosecution relied almost exclusively on a notebook, discovered on-campus at UNSW, said to contain details of the plot. But this evidence against Nizamdeen was fundamentally flawed, according to the accused’s lawyers and handwriting experts were unable to link the writing in the notebook to Nizamdeen's. The Police were then forced to release him on bail last month. His family and supporters firmly maintained his innocence, and the case prompted protests here in Sri Lanka. Shortly after he was released, the PhD student released a video online proclaiming his innocence. “I have never been more proud of being Sri Lankan after seeing the immense support for me and believing that I’m innocent, which I am, thank you so much," he said. The matter appeared in court again today (October 19) and according to the ABC, the police are dropping the charge of "collecting or making documents likely to facilitate terrorist acts" and are withdrawing the case against Nizamdeen. A court earlier heard that no extremist material was found on his computer or mobile phone. Nizamdeen, who spent 4 weeks in Goulburn’s Supermax jail, is now looking to sue for compensation. The NSW Police Assistant Commissioner, Mick Willing states that the information gathered had contradicted the initial material and information they received. He goes on state that they informed the court via the prosecutors. Due to this new data, they had decided to withdraw the case against Nizamdeen. However, Mick Willing states that the investigation is ongoing but that there is no threat at the moment. Nizamdeen had no criminal record and had worked with NSW Police in 2016 to develop an app to help adapt to life in Australia. Kamers Nizamdeen's lawyer stated that they will be suing for compensation and the legal costs in the NSW Supreme Court as it’s a terrible experience, as a young man who has done everything right in life, to have gone through supermax jail in unforgivable circumstances.