The High Court has upheld the conviction of a man for publishing material on the internet connected with terrorism.



In 2008 Belal Saadallah Khazaal, a former Qantas cabin cleaner, was convicted in the Supreme Court of NSW of making a document connected with assistance in a terrorism act.



The charge concerned an electronic book compiled by Mr Khazaal in 2003 which advocated assassinations, described killing methods and identified assassination targets.



Under Commonwealth law, Khazaal had to show a reasonable possibility that the document was not intended to facilitate assistance in a terrorist act.




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Mr Khazaal was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 9 years.



He successfully appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeal, a majority of which found Mr Khazaal had shown there was a reasonable possibility the publication was not intended to facilitate assistance in an act of terrorism. The court overturned Mr Khazaal's conviction and ordered a retrial.



The Commonwealth appealed to the High Court, which today overturned the appeal court's decision, unanimously finding the evidence Mr Khazaal had pointed to did not suggest a reasonable possibility that the making of the e-book was not intended to facilitate assistance in a terrorist act.



The judgement reinstates Mr Khazaal’s conviction. The Court of Criminal Appeal will now hear an appeal against his sentence.