Australian charged with supporting Islamic State faces 25 years' jail

An Australian nurse who voluntarily returned home from Syria after his alleged support to the Islamic State faces up to 25 years’ jail after being charged with terrorism offences.

The 39-year-old, Adam Brookman, faced a Melbourne court on Sunday after surrendering himself to officials in Turkey on Tuesday, Australian Federal Police said.

He is the first Australian known to have returned home from ISIL-controlled territory.

Brookman, who arrived back in Australia on Friday night, was charged with one count of knowingly providing support to a terrorist organisation, which carries a maximum jail time of 25 years.

The father of five faces up to 10 years in prison for a second charge "performing services with the intention of supporting a person, or persons, to engage in a hostile activity in a foreign state”.

The nurse made no application for bail when he appeared briefly at Melbourne Magistrates' Court. He was remanded in custody pending a hearing on Monday.

Police said that although there was no evidence that Mr Brookman posed a threat, they had acted to protect the community.

"Matters such as this ultimately concern community safety, and we make no apology in taking action against people who may bring a radicalised ideology, and potentially other skills, back to Australia," Neil Gaughan, federal police national manager for counter-terrorism assistant commissioner, said in a statement.

"There is no evidence of a threat in Australia in this instance, and the ongoing safety of the community was the primary factor in all of the arrangements made to facilitate this individual's return to Australia."

In an interview with Australia's Fairfax Media in May, Brookman, a Muslim convert, said he first travelled to Syria to perform humanitarian work, but had been forced to join ISIL when he was injured in an air strike and treated at a hospital controlled by the armed group, north of Aleppo.

Brookman said he had been hiding in Turkey after fleeing from Syria last December.

"I don't agree with what they do at all," he told Fairfax.

"I don't agree with their kidnapping, with their dealings with other Muslim groups, and especially after they started executing journalists and other innocent civilians."

"I never went there to fight, I went there as a nurse. I support the struggle of the Syrian people."

It is not clear whether Brookman was still in Syria on December 4, 2014, when Australia made being in al-Raqqa a crime punishable by 10 years in prison. According to the law, anyone entering the area could face up to 10 years in prison unless they have a legitimate reason, including family visits, journalism or aid work.