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Terror charges against 5 teenagers in Sydney bishop stabbing case
The juveniles, aged from 14 to 17 years, were associates of the 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, police said.
Police in Australia have charged five teenagers in connection with the stabbing incident of a Sydney bishop at the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley a few days ago. A 16-year-old attacked Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel during an evening sermon at the church.
The juveniles, aged from 14 to 17 years, were associates of the 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, police said.
The group faces a variety of charges including that of “conspiring to engage in any act in preparation for, or planning, a terrorist act,” police said. Charges also relate to possessing or controlling violent extremist material.
READ | Sydney church attack ‘religiously motivated terrorist act’, says police. Top updates
The operation was conducted by a joint counterterrorism task force, including the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation. All five teenagers were refused bail.
Meanwhile, the bishop who was stabbed during a live-streamed sermon said that he forgave his attacker.
"I forgive whoever has done this act and I say to him: You are my son, I love you and I will always pray for you. And whoever sent you to do this, I forgive them as well," the bishop said in a YouTube video.
An Australian counter-terrorism team arrested seven teenagers in connection with the stabbing incident at Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley a few days ago. Out of this, five were charged in the incident. "I can assure… there is no ongoing threat to the community, and the action we have taken… has mitigated any risk of future or further harm," New South Wales state Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said at a news conference following the arrests.
The joint counter-terrorism team's operation, which involved 13 raids in Sydney, in the regional town of Goulburn, was a combined effort between state, federal police and the domestic intelligence agency. A significant amount of electronic material was seized in the raids, the police have said.
(With inputs from Bloomberg and Reuters)
