MCG terror plot: Judge says Abdul Nacer Benbrika remains 'unacceptable risk', orders deradicalisation program

Convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika will be under supervision for another seven months after a judge ruled he was still a risk to the community.

Justice James Elliott made the orders in the Victorian Supreme Court on Tuesday following an application from the federal attorney-general’s office.

The judge found Benbrika, who was jailed over a 2005 plot to attack the MCG, was still an unacceptable risk of committing a serious offence.

Justice Elliott ruled a series of therapeutic conditions were reasonably necessary and appropriate to protect the safety of the community.

Those conditions included undergoing regular psychological and psychiatric treatment, and participating in a deradicalisation program.

The supervision order will expire on November 28, with the attorney-general’s office given until September 28 to decide whether they will apply to extend the order another time.

Benbrika watched via video link although he appeared to join the hearing late and missed the judge’s ruling.

The full reasons for Justice Elliott’s decision were not read in court and instead will be published at a later date.

The ruling came after a five-day hearing in the Supreme Court, where most of the evidence was suppressed due to its sensitive nature.

Benbrika, now aged in his 60s, was convicted over plots to attack the MCG during the 2005 AFL grand final and Melbourne’s Crown Casino.

In 2009, he was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for directing a terrorist organisation.

His sentence expired in November 2020 but a further three-year detention order was made and he was not released back into the community until December 2023.

Benbrika was immediately placed under the government supervision order with more than 30 strict conditions.

Successive one-month supervision orders have been made since December 2024, ensuring Benbrika remained under supervision until the substantive order was decided on Tuesday.