He remained the dominant figure and was the person who directed everything that later happened on that night in the park at Greenacre. Each girl denied this and gave evidence that Skaf, and those with him in the white van, persistently put pressure on them to engage in oral sex in the van on the way to Greenacre. Australia In Sydney, Disaffected Lebanese Kids Caught in Spiraling Gang Violence Facing racism at school and pressure at home, children from Middle Eastern families in Australia are dragged. Skaf did all the talking and suggested a trip in a car and puffing some marijuana. They wanted wide publicity. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has said the government of Malcolm Fraser made a mistake in bringing Lebanese refugees to Australia in the 1970s, saying they formed a majority of . The Beqaa Valley, a fertile valley in east Lebanon and one of the country's most important farming regions, is also known for being one of the most important cannabis cultivating regions in the Middle East. But below the surface of this lower-middle class success story is a Middle Eastern ghetto terrorized by members of its community. I continue to hold that view. However, data also suggests that the city has been experiencing a steady rise in crime rates for the past three years. Frequently, whilst sitting in the dock, he clicked his fingers towards his counsel, summoning him over. Factors such as unemployment, education, socio-economic disadvantage and lack of access to services have more bearing than ethnicity on crime rates. All three men put pressure on her to agree to have sex with them but she refused. Single expats: 1.773 USD. "Lebanese media often help enshrine the idea that men can get away with these crimes," said Hayat Mirshad, co-director at Fe-Male, a local feminist group. Once you got into the zone where you are powerful and people are scared of you, you dont want to stop. They were followed by other groups of criminals of Lebanese descent, many of whom, in contrast to their predecessors, preferred to remain in the part of Sydney where Keep Reading Tri Minh Tran The law provides that a discount of up to 25 per cent is appropriate to be given if the plea of guilty is given at an early time. Drive-bys were virtually unheard of in Sydney until the mid-1990s, when the sons and grandsons of hardworking Lebanese migrants emerged as serious players in a world of organized crime, hitherto dominated by Vietnamese and Calabrian gangs. All the windows were broken, the doors blown up, she says. After being indecently assaulted on the train, she was then forced off the train and was taken up the steps of the Bankstown railway station. Pupils take to TikTok as they stage protest at Shenfield High School, Police: Urgent search for Constance Marten's missing baby, Shocking video shows machete fight in broad daylight, Gabor Mat: No Jewish state without oppressing local population, Putin spy plane before being 'destroyed by pro-Ukraine Belarus group', Amplified jet stream could lead to 'disruptive snow in places', King Charles hosts von der Leyen at Windsor Castle, Putin orders intelligence service to find 'scum' who oppose him, Moment supermarket cashier is attacked at work in New York, Police search allotment sheds for Constance Marten's missing baby, Huge urgent police search for missing baby of Constance Marten, Dashcam captures moment two cars collide on a roundabout. My views on sentence were not those of the judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal, but their sentences prevail. Crime 0 120 46.11 Crime rates in Australia Safety in Australia Contributors: 7102 Last update: February 2023 These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years. These are questions that will probably never be answered. You just want more, Basha says. My understanding was that the relevant agencies would report back to Australia, either through our UN office in Geneva or New York, how they spent that money, and the government would see that as being accountable to the Australian taxpayer, he says. Stephen Gibbs for Daily Mail Australia. 'All of them were examples of depravity and cruelty. It seems that the police learned from him that the woman had stabbed his friend as well. One of the dead was Sarkis Abboud, 61 years old, and the second was his friend, Tony Yazbek, two years younger. I also told the jury that 'this is not a court of morals' and explained that they might not approve of the conduct of some of the participants because they thought they were acting immorally, but that was not the question at all. It is also possible that there were other victims who have never come forward. Those who pleaded guilty, were given lesser sentences than those who pleaded not guilty, because the law provided for this. The worst part was that these filthy criminals were in prison and the rapes kept happening. A number of family members of the gang members, other than the Skafs, gave evidence and it seemed to me that they were decent, honourable people, who were troubled about the criminal involvement of these young men. That much was confirmed by Lieutenant Colonel Rony Ghanem of Lebanons Internal Security Force. She was able to identify Bilal Skaf because he made a point of shoving his face close to hers and saying, 'I'm Sam's brother, Sam.'. Five computers were stolen along with the servers, Lebanese TV channel LBCI reported. The largest proportion of the Lebanese community in Australia, whether it includes those who were born overseas or also those who claim Lebanese ancestry, now lives . At the end of the Crown case, the case against Skaf looked strong, but the case against Ghanem and Hajeid looked weak because of the identification problems. Average rent in Melbourne. However, the victims' descriptions of the other men who attacked them were quite vague, as could be expected. I also told them to put out of their minds any religious or racial views they had. But these days its worse. Much of that support is being directed virtually to a grassroots online fundraising drive based in London. Finnane dealt with sadistic rapists before and after the Skaf cases. Criminal organizations however often transcend religious and cultural barriers, with members of the Sunni communities all involved in the same criminal organizations.[3]. A criminal trial commences with the Crown prosecutor calling evidence, after making a short opening address, then each of the accused in turn calls evidence in his case if he wishes to do so. Ghanem's convictions for his participation in the attacks that were the subject of the first trial, however, were confirmed. There were a series of instances of forced oral intercourse by each of the accused men and H, as well as Y and the men in the red van. 18:49 EST 27 May 2018. 'Sexual intercourse without consent must be the worst crime after murder, because it involves a person invading the body of another, usually violently. Result: gun crime in western Sydney and northern Melbourne often involves Lebanese Australians, as we saw with the murder last month of Hamad Assaad, himself a suspected hitman. You do what you can.. The people in the white van went through the city and stopped at a McDonald's in Stanmore. The trial for these ofences was particularly horrifying. Lebanon's murder and theft crimes have increased by 144 percent amid the ongoing national crisis compared to the same period last year, according to a study conducted by the Beirut-based . Koreans, growing numbers of Indians, and on the Lakemba side lots of Lebanese and other Arabs. Another four men were in a red van that followed the white van. None of the accused or the victims had been drinking alcohol and none had been taking drugs, even though having marijuana was an inducement offered to the two girls. Terror in Sydney: The Unspeakable Crimes of Bilal Skaf's Lebanese Rape Gang (Crime Documentary) I also prohibited the taking of any photographs of the accused, two of whom were on bail. The men in the red van also sexually assaulted them in the same fashion, as well as punching them and kicking them. There were 72 drive-by shootings in Sydney in the first half of this year one every 2 days most of which took place in Bankstown, the City of Liverpool further west and in Sydneys inner-west. Lebanon has a population of approximately 4.6 million, with 18 recognised distinct religious . As well as these men who went to trial, there were four other men who subsequently pleaded guilty to participating in this spate of sexual assaults. The Lebanese-born population of Australia stood at 70,325 persons in the 1996 census. What we know about the Beirut explosion video explainer, caused by the unsafe storage of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, anti-government protests in Lebanon in October 2019, president Emmanuel Macron toured the devastated scenes. 34. id send all the ones in Australia back to lebanon and then drop a bomb. When he gave evidence, Bilal Skaf was cocky in his manner and almost contemptuous of the Crown prosecutor. With Covid-19 restrictions preventing Lebanese Australians from holding in-person activities, such as fundraising events and protests, local activists like Maakasa are relying on Instagram and Facebook to generate support. National; Crime; How Skaf rape gang trapped their victims. I directed that he be known only as 'H', but his identity was not revealed in this first trial. This article (a transcribed speech by former Australian Police Detective Tim Priest) gives an important look at why there was "white riot" on the Cronulla beaches. The evidence showed Mohammed Skaf to be a treacherous bully who betrayed the trust of the victim and made her, a sixteen-year old school girl, available to his brother and ten or eleven other men. The devastation has profoundly touched Australias 250,000-strong Lebanese community, with the immediate sense of despair now transitioning to a desperate urge to assist. Before we can solve it we need to understand it, he says, and Im not sure we do.. 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