The brother of Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja has been charged with breaching his bail and attempting to influence a witness.
The Daily Telegraph reports Arsalan Tariq Khawaja was arrested on Thursday afternoon at his Sydney home by investigators from the Australian Federal Police, ASIO and the NSW Crime Commission.
According to the Sydney newspaper, he was taken to Parramatta police station and charged with breaching bail and attempting to influence a witness in judicial proceedings.
The 39-year-old was bailed on a $50,000 surety on December 4 after being charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice and making a false document. He is accused of framing a university colleague with a fake terror hit list targeting senior politicians, and lying to police.
Under his bail conditions, he was not to approach within 100 metres of the University of NSW’s Kensington or Cliffbrook campuses. He was also barred from approaching any witnesses or employees of the university’s IT department.
Khawaja will reportedly front Parramatta Bail Court today.
Earlier this month Khawaja was arrested by counter terrorism investigators over an alleged fake terror plot relating to the discovery of a notebook containing alleged concocted plans to carry out terror attacks in Australia.
He was allegedly motivated by a jealous dispute with a colleague over a woman, authorities said.
Investigators swung into action on August 30 after a handwritten book was found at the University of NSW, outlining alleged plans for a series of attacks.
The fake targets allegedly included former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and several major landmarks, including the Sydney Opera House.
The alarming find led to the wrongful arrest of Mohamed Nizamdeen, a PhD student and casual IT support employee at the uni’s campus in Sydney.
Investigators sensationally dropped the charge and the 26-year-old was cleared of any wrongdoing, but not before spending four weeks detained at the notorious maximum security Goulburn prison.
An investigation by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team concluded that Khawaja allegedly produced the fake “extremist and threatening” material in a bid to frame Mr Nizamdeen.
“We believe (he was) set up in a planned and calculated matter … motivated in part by personal grievances,” Mr Willing said.
News of Khawaja’s initial in early December arrest broke before the start of the first cricket Test between Australia and India, in which his brother Usman played. The Australian cricket star issued a short statement about his brother’s situation before the series-opening match got underway.
“I won’t be saying much guys. It is a matter for police to deal with. Out of respect for the process it’d be inappropriate for me to make any further comment. I just ask you to please respect my privacy and my family’s privacy during this time,” he said.
With AFP
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