Sydney's Occupied Territories : Osama Sarwat Toffic arrested at Sydney Airport attempting to escape to Germany

Police arrest Brothers 4 Life gangster as he tries to flee Australia

Katherine Danks and Henry Budd
The Daily Telegraph
November 18, 2013

A BROTHERS 4 Life associate, who was arrested just before boarding a flight to Germany, has been charged with a shooting outside a Sydney sex club.

Police received a tip-off that Osama Sarwat Toffic, 19, was planning to leave Australia just hours before he was arrested at Sydney International Airport on Saturday night.

It's alleged Toffic was the gunman in the attack on Michael Rooke in the carpark of gay, bisexual and swingers club Aarows in Rydalmere on May 1.

The 52-year-old victim survived the attack after three bullets missed his heart and spine by centimetres and police say he was not linked to a criminal gang.

Toffic, of Auburn, has been charged with several offences including shooting with intent to murder, discharging a firearm with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, assault with intent to rob and the possession of a prohibited firearm.

He has also been charged with stealing a motor vehicle, destroying the car with fire in Granville and stealing a van in Harris Park.

Toffic did not apply for bail in Parramatta Bail Court yesterday and was remanded to appear in Burwood Local Court on Wednesday.

CCTV Footage of shooting

Brothers for Life founder Bassam Hamzy 'used a woman posing as his lawyer to communicate with the outside world'

November 16 2013

BROTHERS 4 Life founder Bassam Hamzy allegedly communicated with the outside world from inside his Supermax prison cell through a woman who posed as his lawyer, Corrective Services authorities believe.

BACKYARD ARMS TRADER FOR BIKIES

The legal secretary was allegedly given access to Hamzy this year but was recently banned from further visits.
Her presence allegedly enabled Hamzy to circumvent the otherwise tightly-controlled provisions placed on detainees at Goulburn Supermax prison that see inmates' food and mail screened.

Authorities believe Hamzy was able to use the legal visits to direct activity by the Brothers 4 Life crime gang.
Having shut down this line of communication, authorities do not believe Hamzy played any role in recent tit-for-tat violence among gang members that last month culminated in the fatal shooting of Hamzy's relative Mahmoud Hamzy at a home in Revesby Heights.

A reputable source also said other individuals given access to Bassam Hamzy under the guise of legal visits had also been banned from seeing him at Goulburn jail.
Although Hamzy's phone calls and correspondence are monitored, legal visits remain privileged, meaning they cannot be monitored and documents cannot be examined.

A department spokeswoman refused to be drawn on the matter when asked if an investigation had been launched.
"We won't comment on a security matter such as this," the spokeswoman said.
A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Greg Smith said he also could not comment.
It is understood an investigation determined Hamzy had been able to disseminate documents and messages through his "legal representatives", including the female secretary.

It is understood a broader investigation concerning prison visitors is still under way.
Hamzy is currently serving a 22-year sentence for murder over the 1998 shooting of Kris Toumazis outside a Darlinghurst nightclub.

Update The Bolt Report November 17 2013

Part 1

Part 2

Labor and its media mates fail to understand the new refugee policy

Andrew Bolt

Herald Sun

November 18 2013

WHOSE side is Labor and its media mates on? The people smugglers or those trying to stop them?

Labor Green Loon's VOTE People

For two months journalists have attacked Immigration Minister Scott Morrison for not instantly telling them how and when boats have been intercepted, and who was on board.

Every press conference, it's the same tantrum. "Minister, are you hiding the boats, not stopping them? We're not being told when a boat is turned back."

On Thursday, the Senate backed the journalists, with the Greens and Labor demanding Scott release such information within 24 hours of each boat being intercepted.

He also had to reveal the passengers' nationalities and where they were picked up.

Yet the best military brains, past and present, say this information can only help people smugglers.

Which raises this suspicion: Labor and its media allies really want the Abbott Government to fail. Too cynical?

Two months ago the new Government started a military-led Operation Sovereign Borders to finally end the people smuggling Labor recklessly unleashed when it scrapped our tough border laws in 2008. Since Labor's criminally stupid decision - made to appear "compassionate" and cheered by the ABC and Fairfax newspapers - more than 50,000 boat people have arrived, more than 1000 have drowned and $11 billion of taxpayer money has been wasted.

After five years of faffing around, Labor in August - fearing decimation at the election - finally cracked down on the boats, by then arriving at a three a day.

And, yes, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's deal with Papua New Guinea to send new arrivals to Manus Island did have a big effect.

But Operation Sovereign Borders and other moves by the Abbott Government have cut boat numbers even more. In the past month, just three have arrived.

Clearly, whatever Sovereign Borders is doing works.

Senior journalists have for weeks raged over one aspect of the operation - a clampdown on information on what precisely is being done to turn back each boat. From their very first media briefing, Morrison and the Operations Sovereign Border head, Lt-Gen Angus Campbell, have explained that restriction.

Said Morrison in September: "Briefings will not be provided on tactical and operational matters that may compromise current or future operations."

Last week Prime Minister Tony Abbott added that the restrictions were necessary to make sure of co-operation from Indonesia.

"I don't want to engage in all kind of banter, which may or may not be good television, but which is not going to make it easier to have the kind of relationship with the Indonesian Government that we need."

Angus Houston, a former chief of the defence force and Labor favourite, last week backed this secrecy: "The military way of doing things is to operate with a high degree of operational security, to keep the people smugglers on the back foot."

And on Friday, Campbell explained in detail how people smugglers would love to have the information journalists and Labor demanded.

Knowing where our ships were helped the smugglers who wanted to avoid them, or those who offered customers early interception at sea.

Knowing our navy's tactics helped smugglers to beat them, and "has the very real potential to place responders, as well as passengers and crew, in danger".

What's more, "the official release of information about the nationality, gender, age and circumstances of passengers on-board vessels is also used by people smugglers to determine

with greater certainty which ventures have arrived".

That didn't just help smugglers "to claim credit for any intercepted vessel, to bolster their reputation and gain market share", Campbell said.

"The information about arrivals also leads to the release of final payments to people smugglers. Information protocols that disrupt cash flow, even briefly, cause difficulties for people smugglers."

New York Times journalist Luke Mogelson last week showed exactly how that worked.

Mogelson came over in September on a boat carrying Iranians, and said he'd paid the $8000 fee in Kabul to a money handler called Mohammad.

"Mohammad would withhold the money from his counterpart in Jakarta until we reached Christmas Island."

The people smuggler "would not get paid if our boat sank or if we drowned".

Labor now wants the Government to give out that evidence as soon as it can.

Do they demand police reveal all details of murder investigations - who's being bugged, which witnesses hold the key?

How stupid.

Abbott asked an ABC journalist badgering him last week: "You'd like to stop these boats, Leigh, surely."

Well, don't they?