Melbourne Man Arrested For Alleged ISIS Links After Sharing 10,000 Files On Executions And Mass Attacks | Watch

A 65-year-old man from Melbourne has been arrested and charged with alleged ISIS links after allegedly sharing over 10,000 files containing extremist propaganda online from 2015 to 2020. He was the seventh person arrested in Victoria since May over similar allegations. The federal police did not link this arrest to the previous six and could not confirm a connection.

The man was due to appear in a Melbourne court later that day. He is charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation and transmitting violent extremist material in an encrypted messaging app. The maximum penalty for these offenses is 10 years in prison. The authorities claim he sent the files to spread ISIS propaganda, including instructional material on carrying out attacks and avoiding detection by law enforcement.

The man was arrested when border officials inspected his luggage upon his return from a six-month trip to Egypt in 2020. He had not traveled abroad since 2020 and was not linked to any attacks or plots. The Islamic State group, though weakened since a 2019 US-led military intervention, still has active cells and has inspired independent attacks in various countries, including Australia, where a mass shooting at a Hanukkah event in 2025 was allegedly motivated by the shooters' ISIS affiliations.

Australia has seen around 200 people join the Islamic State group between 2012 and 2019, with many more assisting the group through support, planning, or carrying out terrorist attacks.