Arrested for fighting against the Islamic State

Australia is supposed to be fighting ISIS and this guy gets arrested for fighting AGAINST ISIS.

Former Labor party president Matthew Gardiner arrested at Darwin airport

SMH,

6 April, 2015

Matthew Gardiner has been detained at Darwin Airport. Photo: ABC



Matthew Gardiner, the former Northern Territory Labor party president who joined Kurdish forces to help them fight Islamic State, was detained at Darwin Airport on Sunday before being released without charge, the Australian Federal Police have confirmed. 

Mr Gardiner, 43, left his wife and two sons in Australia to leave for Syria in January, after making connections with others on social media who were sympathetic to the Kurdish cause. 

He was detained at the airport on Sunday morning as he arrived back in the country, but an AFP spokesperson said Mr Gardiner was released from police custody the same afternoon.


Kurdish fighters in Syria. Photo: Yeni Turk

"The AFP can confirm that it spoke to a Darwin man on Sunday following his return to Australia," an AFP spokesperson said. "He has been released without charge.

"Enquiries relating to his activities while overseas are ongoing and as such it is not appropriate to comment further at this time." 

The Kurds, who Mr Gardiner was helping, have been involved in a bitter battle with Islamic State since the jihadist group invaded their territory last year.


Australian recruit, Ashley Johnston (far right), who was killed fighting Islamic State militants. Photo: Supplied

There are an estimated 100 westerners currently fighting with Kurdish forces. In February, fellow Australian 28-year-old army reservist Ashley Johnston was killed on the frontline in Syria fighting with Kurdish forces against Islamic State militants. 
Mr Gardiner was able to travel to Syria because he was not on any Federal Police watch lists at the time.

The Attorney-General's department has long maintained that Australians who leave Australia to engage in an illegal conflict and then come back, will be arrested, prosecuted and jailed.

"We know there are some Australians who think they've made the right choice in becoming involved in overseas conflicts, but that choice only adds to the suffering in Syria and Iraq and it's putting those Australians and others in mortal danger," a spokesman for the Attorney-General's department said in January.

Under the current legislation it is possible for Australians to join the armed forces of a foreign country. However, the Kurds are not recognised as a legitimate armed force.

By entering Syria Mr Gardiner was also travelling to a "declared area" [an area that is illegal for Australians to travel to] without a legitimate purpose. 
Keysar Trad, a spokesman for the Islamic Friendship Association of Australia, has put the AFP on notice, calling for equal treatment and a consistent application of the law whether someone is Muslim or not. 

"We have to make sure our laws are implemented without fear or favour," Mr Trad said. "We've become accustomed in the community to a double-standard in the application of the law. 

"There are a number of cases that I can cite over the years where all alarms are raised... and a Muslim is treated with the fullest extent of the law whereas a non-Muslim is just given a slap on the wrist. 

"We hope that that will stop and there will be more even application of this law." 
Mr Gardiner served with the Australian army in Somalia during the 1990's and had over a decade in military experience before becoming a senior Labor figure. 
He was also the treasurer of the peak body Unions NT and the secretary of hospitality, childcare and emergency services union United Voice in the Northern Territory.

Friends were shocked when they discovered the dedicated father and vocal unionist had left to join the conflict. 

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he was relieved Mr Gardiner was back home in Australia despite fighting in an overseas conflict which he does not entirely agree with. 

"I'm concerned anyone thinks they should be getting involved in these foreign conflicts, no matter what their intentions," Mr Shorten told the ABC. 

"The message has to be to Australians: We're not going to fix those issues by becoming a foreign fighter and the law's going to have to take its process."