ABC’s Four Corners aired claims by a former secret agent that father and son terrorists Sajid and Naveed Akram were showing signs of radicalization years before they killed 15 people on Bondi Beach.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organization (Asio) assessed Naveed, then 17, in 2019 for alleged links to people involved in an Islamic State cell, but determined he was not an ongoing threat.
The highly unusual and yet, Four Corners investigation into the pair aired Monday night Prior claim by Asio That episode contained “significant errors of fact”. Asio decided the content of the program based on descriptive questions sent by the ABC prior to broadcast.
“If ABC chooses to publish claims that are unsubstantiated – particularly those that are untrue – we reserve the right to take further action,” Asio said in a statement published on Sunday night.
The ABC has confirmed it has had no contact from Aceo since the broadcast and has received no legal threats. Asio declined to comment on whether any action would be taken after the broadcast.
The ABC’s managing director, Hugh Marks, will appear before Senate estimates on Tuesday, where Asio’s intervention is expected to increase ahead of the ABC’s programme.
On Monday night’s program, the former agent, known as “Marcus,” claimed to have given Aceo a detailed account of how Naveed was involved with an Islamic State cell while he was working undercover as a radical cleric. Asio dismissed his claims as “baseless”.
As a teenager Naveed was associated with members of a terror cell and associates of radical cleric Wissam Haddad, ABC reported.
“What happened at Bondi Beach was due to some errors and a lack of information,” Marcus told the ABC.
“How [could] Someone like this [have] Asio and fled the Australian authorities’ radar?
Marcus told the program that Sajid supported IS when the pair met in 2019, but the father also expressed admiration for the prominent al-Qaeda propagandist to another man, reports ABC.
“After this conversation, I thought Sajid was more of a terrorist than his son,” Marcus said of the 2019 meeting.
A senior counter-terrorism official with full knowledge of the current investigation told the ABC Sajid may have already been terrorized when he met the agency to discuss his son as part of its assessment.
Sajid was shot dead by the police in an attack on December 14. Naveed is in custody for 59 offences.
Ahead of the program’s broadcast, Aceo described Marcus – who had left Australia and is in hiding after falling out with the agency – as an unreliable and disgruntled source.
“The claims made by Four Corners were investigated at the time and found to be unfounded,” Assio said.
Asio claims Marcus “misidentified Naveed Akram” – a claim he denies.
“I strongly deny Asio’s allegation that I ever misidentified Naveed Akram, whom I met regularly, face-to-face over the years,” Marcus said.
Marcus said on the program that he was prepared to give evidence to the Royal Commission that he had reported to Asio that both father and son were supporting IS.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the federal Royal Commission To examine the prevalence of anti-Semitism in the past month, how law enforcement responds to anti-Semitism, the circumstances surrounding the alleged Bondi attack and strengthening social cohesion.
Before the report aired, reporter Sean Rubinstein-Dunlop said his seven-week investigation had uncovered new information about the years leading up to the attack and asked whether Asio’s assessment that Naveed was not a threat was the “right call”.
On Tuesday, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said Four Corners had a reputation for credibility and quality journalism. But he said he also respects Asio director general Mike Burgess, so the truth of the allegations is “an open question”.
A Royal Commission can examine “competing claims and counterclaims”. ABC News Breakfast.
