‘Abhorrent content’: Carlton man charged with being propagandist for Islamic State

Counter-terrorism police have charged a 65-year-old Melbourne man accused of acting as a key propagandist for Islamic State and spreading thousands of violent files on behalf of the terrorist group.

After a years-long covert operation, detectives from the Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCCT) raided the Carlton home of alleged Islamic State member Mohamed Musse Bakit where he was living with his wife.

Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Paula Hudson said Border Force officers tipped off counter-terrorism investigators after searching Bakit’s luggage ahead of his flight to Egypt in November 2020.

The Victorian JCTT – which includes AFP, Victoria Police and ASIO members – launched the covert investigation in 2021 when Batik returned six months later.

Investigators executed a second search warrant in 2024 as part of the case, where they seized additional electronic devices.

Forensic analysis of the seized devices allegedly revealed Bakit had sent about 10,000 files of violent extremist material and Islamic State propaganda between November 2015 and July 2020, Hudson said.

“The scale and dissemination placed this man as a principal distributor of ISIS propaganda within the group.

“The videos, photographs, audio files and documents contain messages relating to abhorrent content, being executions, mass murder, torture and propaganda,” Hudson claimed.

The trove of material also included information on avoiding detection from law enforcement, and how-to guides on mass casualty attacks, she said.

“Further analysis of the devices revealed the man allegedly pledged his allegiance to ISIS and performed the role of an online propagandist from Australia,” Hudson said.

Bakit allegedly distributed the material using an encrypted platform.

Bakit, an Australian citizen, is facing five charges, including membership of a terrorism organisation, possessing and distributing extremist material, and three counts of using a carriage service to cause offence.

The offences include a maximum jail term of 10 years.

Hudson did not rule out the possibility of making more arrests and said police were continuing to investigate individuals connected to the man.

“Viewing this violent extremist material is not harmless online content. It desensitises people and normalises violence. It radicalises people.”

Acting Home Affairs Minister Michelle Rowland said Bakit should face the full of force of the law.

“There is no place in our country for any kind of extremism, racially or religiously motivated prejudice or hate,” she said in a statement.

Arrest footage shows officers leading Bakit, dressed in a purple shirt and jeans, out of his Drummond Street apartment and into an unmarked police vehicle.

The 65-year-old appeared briefly at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday afternoon. The court heard Bakit suffers from several health conditions and had recently suffered a stroke.

He will return to court on Thursday to apply for bail.

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