The worst part was that these filthy criminals were in prison and the rapes kept happening. . When they got into the white van, the two girls discovered the presence of the other two men. The evidence of the two girls was given in closed court hearings but I permitted the press to have access to the transcripts of the evidence on the basis that the names of the two girls were not revealed and no photographs were taken of them. His counsel acknowledged the force of what I had said but again said that he would be presenting no evidence. And an otherwise law-abiding majority erect a wall of silence when dealing with police they regularly accuse and sue for thuggery and racial profiling. Now retired from the District Court and back in private practice, Finnane has written about this terrible chapter in the country's criminal annals in a memoir about his life on the bench and at the bar. [2], Arab organized crime was introduced in Australia after the mass immigration of Arab people after the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Sexual intercourse without consent was the principal crime contemplated and committed. The criminal justice system judged and punished the perpetrators. I cannot recall any other evidence being presented by him or on his behalf. Why did those who joined him, become involved? The evidence of the two girls was probably sufficient in its own right to identify Bilal Skaf because he had many conversations with them on the night and he left a condom full of his semen in the park where he and others sexually assaulted these two girls. I said to myself, I cant see this anymore, theres nothing I can do here, Im just going to go to the hospital to give blood and see how I can help.. Major Joyce Harmer of the Salvation Army was in court as a support person for her and I am sure this helped her greatly when she was giving evidence. It was nearly midnight. From 1880 to the 1920s, mainly Maronite, Melkite and Orthodox Christians arrived on a small scale. In other words, each man forced his penis into her mouth and ejaculated. The 1997-98 statistics produce high alleged offender rates . There was no evidence that any offences were committed because of religious or cultural or racial reasons and, in fact, there had been no mention of religion at any time in the trial. 2. In the early 1980s, as a young detective I was attached to the Drug Squad at . One of the victims, an 18-year-old woman, was raped 40 times by 14 men over four hours in an attack coordinated by mobile phone. 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. If a person who is guilty, pleads guilty, anxiety and stress to the victims is removed and it is reasonable to give lesser sentences. There was also evidence that each of the accused and the men in the red van abused the girls, calling them 'sluts' and threatened retribution on them if either of them had VD or AIDS. You just want more, Basha says. Those who pleaded guilty, were given lesser sentences than those who pleaded not guilty, because the law provided for this. Coronavirus 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. And these guys are well armed. These two girls did not expect to be driven over the Harbour Bridge. Bilal Skaf was the eldest and was about 21 years of age. The closest thing to non-white allies we have is . Australia enjoys friendly bilateral relations with Lebanon, underpinned by strong people-to-people links. Lebanese (and I went to school with a lot of them) don't, they hate Australia's, they hate our way of life and they don't want to . At some time after this first trial began, I was informed that there were other trials involving the same men and other men in which kidnapping, forced sexual intercourse and other assaults were involved. Some people believe that Melbourne gangs are behind the new wave of crimes, but the numbers tell us that most unique offenders are Australia-born youths between the ages of 15 to 25. But to this day Finnane is regularly asked about the Skaf case, sometimes by strangers, at social functions and on other unexpected occasions. Will this be the catalyst that prompts the move home? Bilal Skaf, however, elected to give evidence. 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. If I opened up my lunchbox and pulled out a Lebanese roll, I would get hassled. The existence of criminal activity among these communities is not the issue. To the streets, thats where., Australian-Lebanese filmmaker George Basha agrees. The population is diverse, having a large Christian religious base, being mostly Maronite Catholics, while also having a large Muslim group of Sunni branch of Islam.. Lebanon, in both its modern-day form as the Lebanese state . A GANG war over drug turf that has been simmering for two decades has erupted into a series of public shootings that has turned Fairfield in western Sydney into Australia's most dangerous suburb. The available evidence suggests that Australians of Lebanese ethnicity who were born in Lebanon reportedly have higher rates of cardiovascular disease-related and type 2 diabetes-related complications when compared with the wider Australian population. This went on for some time and eventually Mohammed Skaf used a mobile phone to summon his brother Bilal. Lebanese organized crime is active in the country of Lebanon itself, as well as in countries and areas with a large Arab community, most notably United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and in the Triple Frontier in South America. The Pursuit of Justice, published by New Holland Publishers, RRP $35, is available from all good book retailers or online at New Holland Publishers. Horrific scenes of carnage on 4 August have given way to an enormous display of humanitys strength, strangers shoulder to shoulder beginning the daunting task of renewal. 5 Brian Lipscomb Vietnamese Organised Crime in Australia . 11:06 EST 27 May 2018 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. The police arrested the perpetrator of the crime as she climbed to the tram, after people called who reported a woman with blood. The victim managed to break free and run across the park to a telephone box. In my time there, Australia gave millions [to aid efforts in Lebanon], he says, explaining that Australian funds are transferred directly through the head offices of UN agencies or humanitarian organisations. EXTRACT: After the sentences were imposed, many people would say things like, 'I'm glad you got those Lebs,' but I found myself trying to explain that I did not 'get those Lebs' at all. Meanwhile Bilal Skaf and others with him got into the van in which they had come to the park and drove around to the telephone box where one of them produced a gun and ordered her to get inside. business He told them they could expect there to be media publicity and that they should ignore anything they read outside court. 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. I continue to hold that view. This meant that the Crown could seek my consent to cross-examine him to show that he was a man of bad character. Of these, 52.5 per cent were males and 47.5 per cent were females. She was also raped vaginally by another man who also forced oral sex on her. After they were raped, the victims were just abandoned. Bilal Skaf did most of the talking to the girls and called himself 'Adam'. He put to me in submissions that the offences had taken place over a twenty-day period and I should impose a sentence that ensured his client spent no more than twenty years in jail. The gang's ringleader, Skaf, denied his role in the crimes despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt and showed no remorse even after he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. 'What the Skaf gang did was to enable multiple men to defile and degrade four young women. In analogy with Australia, Arab organized crime also came to Germany following the Lebanese Civil War. There were other standard instructions thenthe trial began. Rebecca Maakasa, confined in Melbournes lockdown, is connecting through social media to the Lebanese diaspora to offer whatever assistance she can, Its like an apocalyptic world, Sydney-born Yasmin Kassis describes. Pluto Press, Annandale NSW. SYDNEY (Reuters) - The children of refugees who fled Lebanon's civil war for peaceful Australia in the 1970s form a majority of Australian militants fighting in the Middle East, according to. Perhaps the offenders did not believe any of the victims would ever tell the police. live broadcast Both of the Skafs were convicted. The theft occurred in a tightly secured area, further reflecting the cash-strapped country's continued decay. There was no doubt about Skaf's involvement because, apart from his own admissions, the DNA evidence linking him to the events was very clear. Bilal Skaf and up to eleven other men who were never identified, then turned up in a van sometime later. You cant fathom the despair and destruction., Kassis, an English teacher, is one of thousands of Beiruti residents who have been on the streets, cleaning the shopfronts and homes devastated by Tuesdays blast. Counsel for each of the other accused, as well as the Crown, then attacked Bilal Skaf in cross-examination, suggesting he was a liar. Whatever they might have done in those centuries, the law is now perfectly clear - any woman is entitled to refuse consent to sexual intercourse at any time. I then had to give them quite complex directions about the facts in the trial and the law, which has its complexities. The four men in this other car all raped this unfortunate young girl, who was then hosed down until she was soaking wet and forced out of the car that she was in near the Catholic Club at Lidcombe. The largest wave of migration from Lebanon occurred between 1976 and 1981 during the Lebanese Civil War. 'One thing was obvious to me - Bilal Skaf wanted the victims to talk about what happened, to pass on their terror. The girls in the car were very concerned at this point, but too scared to get out and run away. There was no doubt in my mind that when Chami and Hajeid arrived, they both knew that this unfortunate young woman had already been raped in the toilets at Bankstown and in a car in the car park at the Bankstown Trotting Club. At no point, however, did he identify the men in the red van. The people in the white van went through the city and stopped at a McDonald's in Stanmore. This means that many other gangs of boys are doing the same crimes. I considered that I should say these words because it was important that the jury and anyone listening to the trial, including the accused, have a full realisation that a woman has to do nothing more than refuse consent. The commission of a crime that shocked the Lebanese, who numbered 70 to 90,000 between expatriates and descendants in the city. Lebanese organized crime syndicates generally are active . The most common crimes involve physical altercations, trespassing, burglary, and damaging public or private property. Facing racism at school and pressure at home, children from Middle Eastern families in Australia are dragged into world of organized crime and ethnic bloodletting, Lebanese youths are searched by Australian police in Sydney. . From the outset, the City of Bankstown in south-western Sydneys sprawling migrant belt is a picture of multiculturalism. They also robbed the girls. The Australian Embassy in Beirut, opened in 1967, was the third Australian Embassy to be established in the Middle East. The young girl was subjected to extensive questioning by counsel for each of the accused and repeatedly it was suggested to her that she had consented to everything and/or was exaggerating or lying. United States With all of us getting used to working on Zoom and Slack, its become easier to work with people from different cities.. I cannot say what will happen to these men. Australian Lebanese families. A range of factors impinge upon criminal behaviour . The gang also crash-tackled, punched and kicked these girls and stole items of jewellery that they had on them. They were quite friendly at school and he suggested that she come with him on a drive to go and look at the Harbour Bridge on a Saturday. Finnnane sentenced Bilal Skaf to a maximum sentence of 55 years in prison with a minimum term of 40 years. Still, the enormity of the tragedy requires a monumental effort to rebuild the shattered city. Skaf was a small man, rather thin, with black hair and a sharp face. Australia Arab organized crime was introduced in Australia after the mass immigration of Arab people after the Lebanese Civil War in the 1970s to the end of the 1980s. The geographic heartland of Australias 100,000-strong Lebanese community, its red brick apartments and cement-sheet homes are peppered with mosques, musallas and churches. America When later interviewed, Chami claimed that Bilal Skaf told him, 'There's a slut at the Bankstown Trotting Club.' The main difference is that Greeks & Italians want to live in Australia under Australian laws and love our way of life, they mix with Australian's, they want their kids to and they great people. Crimes under Lebanese laws may not be considered offences in Australia. If you ever hear him speak, you would never believe it. All the windows were broken, the doors blown up, she says. trot He also clicked his fingers towards my court officers, ordering them to get him water. Mobile phone technology was used on each occasion to coordinate the attacks, which were well planned and carried out with determination by young men, one as young as fourteen, the oldest being Bilal Skaf at twenty-one years of age. 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. 34. 'I reject this complaint as well,' he writes. Skaf clearly was the leader. Whatever they might have done in those centuries, the law is now perfectly clear - any woman is entitled to refuse consent to sexual intercourse at any time. The number of perpetrators of these crimes has been climbing steadily in recent years, with around six thousand imprisoned in 2021, compared to around half of this number who were imprisoned for. 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 . In the 1980s . He writes that one suggested if sentences as large as that imposed on Bilal Skaf were allowed to stand rapists would in future murder their victims. However, when the van finally stopped, it was at a park in Greenacre. In certain parts of the region, life is structured around extended clan families, a number of whom are active in criminal activities such as narcotics trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and car theft. I then summed up the entire case, dealing with all the evidence, all the arguments and the law that applied. One upstanding group of Lebanese males got sentences up to 49 years prison for kidnapping girls on the street and raping them. If the Crown proved to the satisfaction of the jury and beyond reasonable doubt that it was done without consent, then the Crown case on that charge was established. Subscribe here: http://9Soci.al/chmP50wA97J Full Episodes: https://9now.app.link/uNP4qBkmN6 | The Facebook Gangster (2021)For investigative reporter Nick McK. It seemed clear to me that these men were sending out a message to the community in Sydney. Indictable offenses are heard in a superior court in the presences of a jury. However, these crimes were of secondary importance. I merely imposed sentences on a number of offenders. The Lebanese-born population of Australia stood at 70,325 persons in the 1996 census. I was the judge who dealt with these trials. The trial was quite tense. 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. Bilal Skaf sat throughout the sentencing process looking as if he could not care less about any of it. Who could believe anyone would consent to being assaulted, robbed, abused and threatened? health meadowbrook country club estates; michael mullen obituary; pamela gluckin obituary new york; antonio tonyboy floirendo jr biography That concern was also reflected in the Australian governments own pledge of $2m this week, with foreign minister Marise Payne announcing the money would be evenly split between the UN World Food Programme and the Lebanese Red Cross. If you live in Melbourne, you are at moderate risk of theft and breaking. That sentence was modified several times upon appeal. Bilal Skaf again had vaginal sex with her. Restaurateurs in Bankstown pay up to $50,000 a year in protection money or risk having their premises firebombed, while Shia and Sunni Muslims exchange invectives and blows on the streets. Our initial goal was 10,000. None generated anything like the public attention these trials drew. In the case of the Lebanese in Australia , specifically Sydney, they took this to another level and built a bad reputation in a number of areas: organised crime, petty crime (robbing and beating up people), questionable business practices (famous for not paying for services rendered or under delivering). Stars: Travis Fimmel, Jemmason Power, Talijah Blackman-Corowa, Eden Cassady Votes: 2,921 3. According to exclusive statistics from the armed crime squad, there has been a five-fold increase in non-fatal shootings in the north-west in four years and the region now sees almost two thirds of Victoria's non-fatal shootings. I gave that consent. That group, which became known as the 'Skaf gang' after their leader, Bilal Skaf, went on a 20-day rampage in which four young women were violated in three pack rapes shortly before the 2000 Olympics. 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