Since then, migration has significantly reduced and growth rates have become steady. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. , updated For most of his career, Finnane was not well known outside legal circles but that changed rapidly and forever when he presided over the Skaf rape trials. Why did those who joined him, become involved? Under a large number of refugees, there were also several extended clans that already in Lebanon were deeply entrenched in organized crime. You cant fathom the despair and destruction., Kassis, an English teacher, is one of thousands of Beiruti residents who have been on the streets, cleaning the shopfronts and homes devastated by Tuesdays blast. new newspaper Bilal Skaf again had vaginal sex with her. It is often difficult to predict whether there will be rehabilitation. Im still in a state of shock. Melbourne experiences a moderate crime rate and is generally considered a safe city for living and travelling. Bilal Skaf was one of the people who then approached the victim whom he grabbed by the hair. 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? After they were raped, the victims were just abandoned. Both Mohammed Skaf and the victim went and saw her mother and got her consent as the trip was going to be on a Saturday night. The Pursuit of Justice, published by New Holland Publishers, RRP $35, is available from all good book retailers or online at New Holland Publishers. From the outset, the City of Bankstown in south-western Sydneys sprawling migrant belt is a picture of multiculturalism. They were quite friendly at school and he suggested that she come with him on a drive to go and look at the Harbour Bridge on a Saturday. Skaf did all the talking and suggested a trip in a car and puffing some marijuana. Subsequent migration was steady until an influx occurred surrounding the Arab . I directed that he be known only as 'H', but his identity was not revealed in this first trial. Im Lebanese Australian and Im proud of both parts of my identity. While Finnane's sentencing of the Skaf gang members was widely lauded and drew praise from many politicians, he was criticised privately by some other judges. The gang assaulted the two girls, by punching and kicking them and, of course, by dragging them across a park by the neck. And that it happened because of incompetence and corruption.. Home News Video- A crime shocked the Lebanese in Australia.. New facts about the murder of Abboud Yazbek. A former minister once asked me, hasnt the Australian embassy got a little aid budget? I asked what for, he said he wanted to put new street lighting on his street. Bartlem says that request was one of many, which included a Lebanese politician seeking all-expense-paid trips to Australia. 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. The identity of the four men in the red van has never properly been revealed. 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. We are afraid there is some connection between these guys here and the guys in Lebanon, he said during a three-month visit to Sydney earlier this year to exchange information on criminal syndicates with the New South Wales Police Forces Middle Eastern Crime Squad. This was evidence of incriminating phone calls between him and Chami. However, although these cases attracted some media attention while the trials were proceeding, they passed largely with little comment.'. At no point, however, did he identify the men in the red van. Crimes under Lebanese laws may not be considered offences in Australia. 'Skaf and the members of this gang clearly wanted public recognition for what they had done.'. UAE Rebecca Maakasa, confined in Melbournes lockdown, is connecting through social media to the Lebanese diaspora to offer whatever assistance she can, Its like an apocalyptic world, Sydney-born Yasmin Kassis describes. Relatives have legally . Skaf clearly was the leader. He was the gang boss and the organiser of everything that happened. The first community of Lebanese in Australia were Maronite Christians, quickly followed by a large Muslim community. The second trial had two accused only, Bilal Skaf and Mohammed Skaf, his younger brother. 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. Average rent in Melbourne. Lebanese migration to Australia occurred in the three main waves. I remanded all of them in custody. 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. What is still difficult for me to understand is why this serious criminal conspiracy involving so many young men was launched. Surprised by Lebanese officials audaciously asking for Australian money for personal reasons, Bartlem refused to process their requests further. 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. The girl was just sixteen years old. There was no obvious reason. All the windows were broken, the doors blown up, she says. [4] Some of the more notorious Arab mafia families include the infamous el-koura Younes Clan, the Shams Clan the Al Zein Clan[5] and the Miri Clan from Bremen. Among them is one Australian, with as many as 300,000 made homeless. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. I think the sentences struck a chord with the public generally because the attacks were predatory and carefully planned. Counsel for each of the other accused addressed the jury then. In this case, only Bilal Skaf gave evidence. The main center of Arab organized crime is Sydney, with a significant community of 120,000, followed by Melbourne. "(Ghazal) said on the show that if he . Earlier we met Redfern-based Frank Hakim, the first major Lebanese criminal in Sydney, and younger men such as Louis Bayeh and Danny Karam. The crime shocked the small town of Ashford and devastated the Australian South Sea Islander community of Elizabeth. If you ever hear him speak, you would never believe it. 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. Pluto Press, Annandale NSW. In the witness box, she clutched a small doll in her hands and gave firm and clear evidence. Knowing this much corruption gives me more reason not to leave Lebanon. Sexual intercourse without consent was the principal crime contemplated and committed. 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. National News Agency staff in Beirut found a broken . 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. Finnane told these citizens that evidence might come out showing that those on trial were Lebanese by origin but that was irrelevant to the question of whether they had committed any offence. All rights reserved. Present governor of the State of NSW is a distinguished Lebanese-Christian woman. Coronavirus While working as CEO of the Australian International Islamic College in Brisbane last year, he initiated a new program that saw problem students placed in a behavior-management room where they were closely supervised by an Islamic cleric. Apart from denying that any offences had happened and claiming that the two girls consented to everything, his evidence also placed Ghanem and Hajeid at the park in Greenacre and confirmed that they also had taken part in sexual activity with the two girls. That was an attraction, too. Ukraine He remained the dominant figure and was the person who directed everything that later happened on that night in the park at Greenacre. I was always hopeful that the people I sentenced in other cases might see the point of rehabilitation and, undoubtedly, some of them did. He told them they could expect there to be media publicity and that they should ignore anything they read outside court. Praying for the injured, missing & dead, she wrote on Twitter. The blast flattened the neighbourhoods closest to the port, such as Gemmayze and Mar Mikhael tourist hotspots and the heart of Beiruts famous nightlife, now as haunting as Stalingrad. His attitude was the same throughout the trial. Then another car arrived with the offenders Chami and two other men, one man known as Nike Sam. The latest death toll stands at over 150 but is expected to climb. Lebanese Crime, Official Cowardice In Australia. Bikie gangs such as the Nomads recruit heavily from among Lebanese Muslims, as have jihadist recruiters. While Lebanese settled all over Australia, the majority have consistently settled in NSW and particularly in Sydney. Australia enjoys friendly bilateral relations with Lebanon, underpinned by strong people-to-people links. There is no concept in our law that there is a category of person called loose women who are deemed somehow to consent and certainly there is no law that merely because a young woman might give an indication that she was friendly with someone and didn't protest too much when they were laying hands on her that she therefore was consenting to anything. None of these young women will ever forget their experience at the hands of this gang.'. Single expats: 1.630 USD. By [6] These criminal organizations are mostly based around extended criminal clans. This was also the position for the assaults and the robberies committed on the two victims. Australian Lebanese families. 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. He later pleaded guilty to some of the offences and when he did, I directed that he not be identified by his name. business The first community of Lebanese in Australia were Maronite Christians, quickly followed by a large Muslim community. I continue to hold that view. "The passion is there. And these guys are well armed. They are also willing to purchase from Chinese importers and to wholesale to other groups, such as Romanian and Lebanese dealers. Each of Ghanem and Hajeid's counsel put forward arguments that they had not been properly identified and were not present. Called next to him in the front seat, but she indicated that there was no evidence of his involvement in the crime, but only wanted him as a witness to it. meadowbrook country club estates; michael mullen obituary; pamela gluckin obituary new york; antonio tonyboy floirendo jr biography Thus, the Crown Prosecutor and the counsel for Hajeid and Ghanem joined forces to attack Bilal Skaf. Its just a mess. 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