Australian Ministers to Face Court for Criticizing Terrorist Prison Sentences

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Three Australian ministers were ordered to appear on Friday before the Supreme Court of the southeastern state of Victoria to explain why they should not face charges of contempt after having accused a Victorian judiciary of "endorsing and embracing shorter sentences for terrorism offences," local media reported on Wednesday, citing a letter from Judicial Registrar Ian Irving.

The ministers will have to face Victoria’s Supreme Court "to make any submissions as to why they should not be referred for prosecution for contempt," the letter obtained by Fairfax Media said.

On Tuesday, Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt, Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar and Human Services Minister Alan Tudge told The Australian newspaper that the court was performing "ideological experiments," with the judges being "more concerned about the terrorists than the safety of the community."

The ministers’ statements were related to the appeal against a 7.5-year non-parole sentence of a terrorist who pleaded guilty of planning a terrorist attack in 2015.

"The attributed statements appear to intend to bring the Court into disrepute, to assert the judges have and will apply an ideologically based predisposition in deciding the case or cases and that the judges will not apply the law," the letter obtained by the media company said.

On June 5, a terror attack took place in the capital of Victoria, the city of Melbourne, leaving one man dead and three police officers wounded. According to media reports, the terrorist was identified as an Australian national of Chinese origin, who had been allowed on parole after a trial over a massive terrorist suicide attack plot in 2010.