The Australian Federal Police have issued an arrest warrant for Queensland teenager Oliver Bridgeman, who says he’s doing aid work and is stranded in Syria.
The AFP confirmed they received an arrest warrant on the grounds of “incursions into foreign countries with the intention of engaging in hostile activities”. Two AFP officers delivered the news to his parents in Toowomba yesterday, who are of course devastated over the news.
Last month, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade cancelled Bridgeman’s passport – which was at the same time as his parents were trying to get him home. His lawyer, Alex Jones, today accused the AFP of doing this on purpose, so Bridgeman would remain stranded in Syria:
“They’ve just stranded him, and now he can’t legally get out of Syria because he doesn’t have a passport.The government have already said they’re not going to help him and now they’ve issued an arrest warrant for him. If they had left him alone he’d be home already [to face AFP questioning].”
The Guardian reported on Wednesday that ASIO‘s security assessment of Bridgeman was based largely on media interviews discussing his aid work and seemingly innocuous comments he had made on Facebook.
The report said that Bridgeman “likely remains ideologically supportive of politically motivated violence”.
Source: The Guardian.
Photo: Facebook.
