A Melbourne university student says the Australian Federal Police (AFP) has questioned him because he borrowed library books about terrorism and suicide bombings. The Muslim convert, known as Abraham, says he was targeted by investigators while borrowing the books for PhD research at Monash University into the role of Islam in martyrdom.
Abraham says the AFP drew an unfair link between his Muslim name and his topic of study. “Obviously, they’ve had access to my library records,” he said. “I don’t know if the phone has been bugged. I don’t know if they are watching my movements. They are drawing a linkage between a person with a non-English speaking name and saying ‘okay, well this is suspicious activity’.”
Abraham says there are dozens of students studying similar subjects but he is the only one who has been interviewed, despite espousing a moderate approach to Islam.
See also ‘Aussie Muslim leaders hit back at Howard’, Islam Online, 25 July 2005