At last action being taken by Australia : Canterbury-Bankstown Council shuts down prayer hall linked to notorious preacher Wisam Haddad
A man in Islamic garb with a beard stands in Sydney’s CBD looking at the camera with a serious expression.
A Sydney council has moved to shut down what it says is an illegal prayer hall linked to notorious Islamic preacher Wisam Haddad.The City of Canterbury Bankstown Council issued a “cease use” directive at the Bankstown Al Madina Dawah Centre in the city’s south-west on Monday.
Bankstown council has issued a “cease use” notice to a prayer hall linked to Islamic preacher Wisam Haddad. The City of Canterbury Bankstown Council will move to shut down an illegal prayer centre run by Wisam Haddad.
Council records show Al Madina Dawah Centre had only recently received approval to operate as a medical centre.Mr Haddad was previously issued with a directive to shut down premises unauthorised to conduct prayer meetings at other sites.
The council said a review of council records dating back to the 1970s found the site on Kitchener Parade had never been approved to run as a prayer hall, and had only recently received approval to operate as a medical centre.
“Our recent surveillance indicates there is a strong suspicion the premises is being used contrary to its intended use,” a council spokesperson said in a statement.
“We have issued the cease use notices which will be effective immediately. There are no compromises, and we will be taking further action if they don’t comply.”
The exterior of a building to be the centre of an illegal prayer hall
The illegally run prayer hall in Bankstown will be shuttered by council. (ABC News: Greg Bigelow)
Mr Haddad was previously issued with a directive to shut down premises unauthorised to conduct prayer meetings at other sites, according to the council.
Mr Haddad, who is also known as Abu Ousayd, is a notorious Islamic preacher recently found by the Federal Court to have breached the Racial Discrimination Act in a series of antisemitic lectures.
The ABC previously revealed that Bondi gunman Naveed Akram, 24, was a follower of Mr Haddad when he was a teenager.
Mr Haddad was identified by an ABC Four Corners investigation this year as a spiritual leader of Australia’s pro-Islamic State network.
A former ASIO undercover agent, codenamed Marcus, warned Four Corners young people were indoctrinated into supporting IS.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Mr Haddad in relation to the Bondi attack and through a lawyer earlier this week, Mr Haddad said he “vehemently denies any knowledge of or involvement in the shootings that took place at Bondi Beach” on December 14.
He also disputed that Akram had ever been a “follower” and said there was no evidence or findings to support the claim he was a spiritual leader of a pro-IS network.
Organisation questions ‘timing and motivation’
The Al Madina Group, the company that manages the site, said in a statement on Tuesday that Mr Haddad did not have any involvement in its operation and it had “acted in good faith” since taking over the premises.
“And was under the reasonable impression that no development Application (DA) was required, given that the former organisation AMDC [Al Madina Dawah Centre], had operated at the same location for nearly four years without issue or enforcement action.”
The company said it questioned the “bases, timing and motivation behind Bankstown Council’s sudden order to cease operations”.
In a statement last week, Al Madina Group said: “His [Mr Haddad’s] involvement is limited to occasional invitations as a guest speaker, including delivering lectures and, at times, Friday sermons.”
Premier Chris Minns said Mayor Bilal El-Hayek had been in contact with the government and NSW Police over a number of days.
“He’s taken decisive action … this is a kind of leadership that we need right now,” Mr Minns said.
“Bilal has led that community through a number of years, he’s obviously decided this can’t can’t go on. It’s not being used for the purposes in which the permit had been released.”
