Australia: Extremist preacher bailed on Mardi Gras terror charge
An extremist Muslim preacher has been bailed in Australia after answering charges for allegedly threatening a terrorist attack on Sydney’s gay Mardi Gras parade and for possessing images of child abuse.
Ibrahim Siddiq-Conlon, 35, is an Australian-born convert to Islam who has made waves with calls for Sharia law and attacks on the memory of soldiers who died in Afghanistan.
He is alleged to have outlined a “terrorist threat” relating to the gay parade on the Facebook page of Today FM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show, AAP reports.
Other charges relate to possession of images of child abuse.
The New South Wales Supreme Court granted him bail yesterday so long as he does not attempt to leave the country or be in the presence of any person under the age of 18.
The preacher will return to Sydney Central Local Court on 25 July. He is reported to have said, after initially being charged, that the Mardi Gras posting was “a moment of passion”, adding “I didn’t mean it”.
Sydney’s annual LGBT Mardi Gras festival went ahead in late February and early March with an appearance from Kyile Minogue and hundreds of thousands of attendees.
The page on which the “terror threat” is alleged to have been made was for a radio show whose host has caused controversy of her own in the gay community.
In January, Jackie O told listeners she had gone off her middle because it “sounds a bit lez”.
Jacqueline Ellen Marie Henderson’s breakfast radio show is the most popular in Australia. She faced criticism for saying the “lesbian” connotations of her name were the reason she dislikes it. Commentators saw a clear reference to US comedian and TV personality Ellen DeGeneres.
