The former president of Australia’s Northern Territory Labor Party has been detained at Darwin airport after returning from Syria’s theater of war, where he allegedly fought the Islamic State alongside Kurdish self-defense forces.
Matthew Gardiner, 43, was questioned by Australian Federal Police
(AFP) and later released without charges being brought against
him.
“The AFP can confirm that it spoke to a Darwin man on Sunday
following his return to Australia,” an AFP spokesperson said
in a statement. “He has been released without charge".
“Enquiries relating to his activities while overseas are
ongoing and as such it is not appropriate to comment further at
this time,” the spokesperson added.
Matthew Gardiner left Aus to help Kurdish fighters in battle with IS, reportedly detained at Darwin Airport. #9Newspic.twitter.com/34BzON3bzm
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) April 4, 2015
Gardiner left his family in January, allegedly to join the
Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) fighting the Islamic State (IS,
formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) in Syria.
Back in the 1990s, he served with the Australian army in Somalia
and gained more than a decade of military experience before
becoming a politician.
Australian Federal Police were tipped off about the arrival of the volunteer fighter by Keysar Trad, a representative of Australia’s Muslim community and spokesman for the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia.
Foreign mercenaries of the #Peshmerga army fighting against #ISIS#ISIL#Iraq#Syria#Erbilpic.twitter.com/xTWMgMpFpR
— M. Colkesen (@colkesenm) April 1, 2015
Trad explains he put the AFP on notice to ensure equal treatment
of Muslims and non-Muslims under the anti-terrorist legislation
tightened in 2014.
“We have to make sure our laws are implemented without fear
or favor," Trad said, as cited by the Sydney Morning Herald
(SMH). "We've become accustomed in the community to a
double-standard in the application of the law.”
Although Australian legislation does not prohibit its citizens from joining foreign armed forces, the Kurds are not internationally recognized, and therefore not a legitimate armed force.
Photo: bijikurdistan: The Kurdish Peshmerga Forces share a 1,050 kilometer border with ISIS Terrorists.... http://t.co/W1gN2ooxiu
— Hannan (@HannanHM) March 28, 2015
Reportedly, Gardiner became one of about 100 foreign fighters
helping the Kurds in their battles with IS extremists.
Another Australian citizen fighting for the Kurdish cause,
28-year-old army reservist Ashley Johnston, was killed in action.
Last September, Australia introduced new legislation to combat homegrown terrorism, criminalizing travel to some conflict areas and granting authorities broader access to citizens' communications.
READ MORE: Security before freedoms: Australia to introduce tougher anti-terror laws
Australia’s Attorney-General's department has the right to arrest, prosecute and jail those Australians who leave the country to join any kind of “illegal conflict” and then decide to come back to Australia.
“We know there are some Australians who think they've made
the right choice in becoming involved in overseas conflicts, but
that choice only adds to the suffering in Syria and Iraq and it's
putting those Australians and others in mortal danger,” the
Attorney-General department’s spokesman said in January.
Commenting on the situation with Matthew Gardiner to the ABC,
Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said: “The message has
to be to Australians: We're not going to fix those issues by
becoming a foreign fighter and the law's going to have to take
its process.”
At the same time, there are Australians fighting on the other
side of the conflict. In March, the SMH reported that a criminal
group was secretly sending would-be fighters to Syria using fake
international passports to join Islamic extremists.
Theoretically, Australians on both sides could one day end up
fighting each other thousands of kilometers away from home.
READ MORE: Australian criminals secretly sending future jihadists to Syria – report