28 January 2016•Update: 29 January 2016
By Jill Fraser
MELBOURNE
A court in Australia has claimed that a Daesh-influenced teenager planned to paint the terrorist group's insignia on a kangaroo, pack it with explosives and let it loose on police as part of an alleged terror plot.
In the Melbourne Supreme Court on Thursday the 19-year-old, Sevdet Ramadan Besim of Melbourne -- one of five teens arrested in the state of Victoria last year — was committed to trial after pleading not guilty to four charges.
The prosecution alleged that Besim had conducted internet searches in Feb. 2015, including "Anzac day parade 2015", "shrine of Remembrance" and "Melbourne Anzac Day 2015" with the intention of launching the improvised explosive device.
He is also accused of conspiring with a teenager overseas to launch attacks -- that would have allegedly included running over, then beheading, a police officer -- on Australian soil.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Besim, from Melbourne's southeast, pleaded not guilty to four charges relating to utilizing the phone and Internet to plan a terrorist act.
Court documents presented to the prosecution detail alleged telegram communications between the two.
"Communications resume in the early hours of Thursday 20 March 2015 with an image being sent by BESIM with a comment of 'look what I got ahaha'," the documents state.
"The conversation continues with BESIM detailing what he did that day and they have a general discussion around animals and wildlife in Australia including a suggestion that a kangaroo could be packed with C4 explosive, painted with the IS [Daesh] symbol and set loose on police officers."
Fairfax reports Besim allegedly said he was "ready to fight these dogs on there [sic] doorstep" in online communications with the person overseas, according to court documents.
"I'd love to take out some cops," Besim is alleged to have said.
"I was gonna meet with them then take some heads ahaha."
Besim was remanded in custody until Feb. 3 when he will face the Victorian Supreme Court.
He has been held since April 18 2015 when officers swooped on Melbourne’s southeast, seizing knives and swords and arresting five teens. Police have claimed he was influenced by Daesh.
ANZAC day -- one of Australia’s most important national occasions -- is commemorated April 25. It stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, many of whom fought in the 1915 Battle of Canakkale -- known as Gallipoli in Australia.
The ANZAC legend is central to the Australian identity.
