Mohamed Bakit
Introduction
Mohamed Bakit is a 65-year-old Australian citizen from the Melbourne suburb of Carlton who on 23 September 2026 was charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation after authorities alleged he spent years operating as an online propagandist for the Islamic State group. The Victoria Joint Counter Terrorism Team — a joint unit of the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and the security service ASIO — arrested him during a raid on his home that morning and accused him of sending roughly 10,000 files of violent extremist material between November 2015 and July 2020, including depictions of executions and torture and instructional guides on planning mass-casualty attacks. He faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court briefly that afternoon, where his lawyer said he denies the charges and will apply for bail.
Background Information
Almost nothing about Bakit’s personal life has been made public beyond the outline presented at his filing hearing. He is an Australian citizen who lived with his wife in Carlton, and his lawyer told the court he had previously suffered a stroke, is diabetic, and takes blood-pressure and cholesterol medication — describing her client as being in poor health and noting it was his first time in custody. The case against him did not begin with any alleged attack: the ABC reported that no particular attack has been linked to him, and the police case centres entirely on what investigators say they found on his devices. The investigation was triggered in November 2020, when Australian Border Force officers examining his luggage before a flight to Egypt found suspicious content on his mobile phone, which was then seized for forensic review.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police and ASIO, announced in a joint statement and media conference on 23 September 2026. They have not been admitted by Mohamed Bakit and have not been tested at trial; the charges are formal accusations only, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Through his lawyer Stephanie McLennan, Bakit denies the charges.
Police allege that a forensic examination of devices seized in 2020 — and of further devices taken under a second search warrant executed in 2024 — revealed that Bakit pledged allegiance to ISIS and performed the role of an online propagandist from Australia on an encrypted messaging platform, which authorities have not named. It is alleged he sent about 10,000 files of violent extremist material between November 2015 and July 2020: videos, images, audio files, documents and messages relating to executions, torture and ISIS propaganda purporting to be from battlefields. Investigators further allege he shared information about avoiding detection from law enforcement along with instructional guides on planning and conducting mass-casualty attacks. AFP Acting Assistant Commissioner for Counter Terrorism Paula Hudson told reporters the scale of the alleged dissemination placed him as one of the “principal distributors of ISIS propaganda within the groups” on the platform, saying the material “glorified acts of extreme violence” and spread ideology “designed to radicalise others.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
The immediate consequence is legal: Bakit was charged with five counts — one count of membership of a terrorist organisation under section 102.3(1) of the Commonwealth Criminal Code, three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence by transmitting violent extremist material under section 474.17(1), and one count of possessing or controlling violent extremist material obtained from a carriage service under section 474.45C(1) — with maximum penalties that include ten years’ imprisonment. The arrest drew wide coverage as the seventh arrest in the state of Victoria since May over alleged possession or distribution of Islamic State content online, though police explicitly declined to link his case to the other six. Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien framed the case as a reminder about online extremism, and Hudson warned that “terrorist organisations like ISIS rely on online platforms to distribute propaganda and recruit supporters.” Internationally, the story travelled through the Associated Press under a headline describing him only as an unnamed 65-year-old; Australia’s ABC was the first major outlet to name him as Mohamed Bakit.
Current Status
Bakit appeared briefly in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on the afternoon of 23 September 2026, where details of the charges and allegations were not read out. His lawyer Stephanie McLennan told the court he would apply for bail the following day, and outside court she said: “He denies the charges.” The case remains at its earliest stage — no pleas have been entered on the record beyond the denial relayed by his lawyer, no trial date exists, and the AFP has said only that the investigation into his alleged activity spanned several years of covert monitoring before the raid. If convicted on all counts, he faces a theoretical maximum of ten years’ imprisonment, though sentencing in Australia typically involves a judge weighing individual counts.
Impact on Their Career/Life
At 65 and in poor health — a prior stroke, diabetes, and daily medication, according to his lawyer — Bakit now enters the criminal justice system for the first time in his life, having been taken into custody after the raid on the Carlton home he shared with his wife. There is no public record of professional employment or a public profile to unravel: his alleged notoriety, if the charges are proven, rests on the scale of the material investigators say he distributed, which the AFP says made him one of the principal distributors of ISIS propaganda within the messaging groups in question. His bail application, set for the day after his arrest, will determine whether the coming months of litigation happen from custody or at home. Until the case is resolved, the “principal distributor” characterisation from the counter-terrorism chief stands as an allegation he denies.
Sources
- Australian Federal Police (joint release with Victoria Police and ASIO), “Melbourne man charged for alleged ISIS membership as local propagandist,” September 23, 2026 — source
- ABC News (Australia), “Counterterrorism police charge Melbourne man who allegedly spread propaganda for Islamic State,” September 23, 2026 — source
- New York Post (AP), “Australian man is accused of being Islamic State group propagandist who shared 10,000 files online,” September 23, 2026 — source
- @nypost on X, post 2102709110043005185, September 23, 2026 — source