A NSW Supreme Court jury on Thursday held Hamdi Alqudsi guilty of allegedly plotting to carry out attacks on Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and other places as leader of the terrorist group ‘Shura’.
The court has scheduled Alqudsi’s sentencing over two days starting October 31, reported the Sydney Morning Herald. Alqudsi was the first Australian to be convicted and sentenced to eight years imprisonment in 2016 for his role in sending young men from Australia to Syria to help Islamic State fighters in the country’s civil war.
The prosecution case was that Alqudsi set up the Shura in 2013 and dubbed himself the “commander” and “emir” of the Shura. Shura means consultation council in Arabic.
Alqudsi along with other members of the Shura allegedly pledged allegiance to Islamic State in a ceremony at Wattamolla Beach on August 31, 2014.