A ‘misunderstood’ Islamic State hairdresser who convinced an Australian teenager to become a suicide bomber will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Mirsad Kandic, 40, was sentenced to life in prison on terrorism-related charges and his involvement in the death of 18-year-old Jake Bilardi in New York on Saturday.
Bilardi shocked Australia with a suicide bombing attack in Ramadi in central Iraq, about 110 kilometers west of Baghdad and 1,300 kilometers from his home in Melbourne, in March 2015.
After Bilardi’s mother died of cancer, the terror group radicalized him in his bedroom after meeting an ISIS mastermind online.
Kandic fought the charges, which he described as “discrimination and Islamophobia”, while maintaining that he was not aware of any US laws he had violated. according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mirsad Kandic, 40, (pictured) was sentenced to life in prison on terrorism-related charges and his role in causing the death of 18-year-old Jake Bilardi in New York on Saturday.
Bilardi (pictured) shocked Australia with a suicide bombing attack in Ramadi in central Iraq, some 110 km west of Baghdad and 1,300 km from his home in Melbourne, in March 2015.
Kandic had been mistreated, he told a New York court before sentencing.
“I am not a violent person, I have never been a violent person,” Kandic told the court.
I have never hurt anyone and I don’t intend to either.
He offered an apology to the court and to “those who have been offended or hurt by me.”
‘For my actions… I seek forgiveness and repent before my lord every day, 100 times a day,’ he said.
Kandic was told that his radicalization as a teenager was “evil” and that his beliefs had turned towards sadism.
“This is about taking one’s beliefs and turning them into hate and murder,” Eastern District of New York Judge Nicholas Garaufis told the Brooklyn court.
“We have an obligation to say never again, no more, that it will not happen under our mandate.
Jake Bilardi didn’t deserve to die and he didn’t deserve to kill anyone. He deserved to be saved at 18: the chance to become an adult, deal with his problems and be a member of his community.’
Before the sentence was read out in court, Garaufis asked Kandic if he was ready to hear it, but the courtroom remained silent.
“I’m not going to wait for an answer,” Garaufis said before sentencing Kandic to life in prison.
Kandic was a high-ranking member of ISIS who was responsible for recruiting radicals abroad and sending them to fight in Syria.
A revealed investigation how Bilardi became a target of Kandic, and how he smuggled the teen into the Middle East before planning what Bilardi described as a “hugely coordinated” suicide mission.
Numerous phone calls were also uncovered from desperate relatives of Bilardi begging the teenager to reconsider his new beliefs.
At the time of sentencing, the court was told that Kandic had never shown remorse for the Ramadi bombing and how radicalizing Bilardi earlier had been a “powerful shot in the arm for ISIS and its propaganda” by Assistant US Attorney Matthew Haggans.
Haggans continued: “Bilardi did what he did after he was trafficked by this defendant, inspired by this defendant, encouraged by this defendant.”
After Bilardi’s mother died of cancer, the terror group radicalized him in his bedroom after meeting an ISIS mastermind online.
Bilardi blew himself up on a suicide mission against the Iraqi armed forces in Ramadi approximately seven months after arriving in the Middle East.
Kandic recruited hundreds of foreigners to fight for his terrorist causes from December 2013 to June 2017.
These recruits would not only fight for ISIS, but would also smuggle weapons, equipment, and money into the area.
To reach so many people, Kandic operated more than 120 Twitter accounts to spread his word.
He routinely shared gruesome propaganda, including footage taken of executions, one of which he had previously called “the best thing ever seen on the screen.”
In the video, the prisoners were forced to dig their own graves before being shot dead.
Bilardi was admitted as a shy and vulnerable teenager seeking solace after his single mother died in 2012.
Bilardi was angry that he had not found a way to leave Melbourne and fight abroad and noted his frustration on his ‘From Melbourne to Ramadi: My Journey’ blog.
‘How was I going to get in? I had no contacts to help me,’ she wrote. “After unsuccessful attempts to find a contact, I lost all hope.”
Shortly after posting these diary entries, Bilardi met Kandic, who said he could help the teen get into Syria.
New York Eastern District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said Bilardi (left) “deserved to be forgiven at 18 years of age…to deal with his problems and to be a member of his community.”
Bilardi was given a checklist of things to do to prepare, which included learning Arabic, doing cardio to train for battles, and flying to Istanbul pretending to be a tourist.
He paid extra to have his passport expedited before booking a flight to Istanbul for August 25, 2014.
Bilardi called his brother Chris in October, where he was pressured to return home.
“I don’t know what he’s accomplishing,” Chris said. ‘Maybe I’m accomplishing something for you, because you think it’s benefiting you, that you’re going to heaven or something.
But it is not benefiting anyone else. You’re going to be killing innocent people.
Soon after, Bilardi was ordered to join seven other suicide bombers for a mission in the northern Iraqi city of Baiji.
It was canceled just before Bilardi was to detonate his bomb and it would not be until March 2015 that he received his new orders.
Bilardi then blew himself up in a suicide mission against the Iraqi armed forces in Ramadi in central Iraq.
The attack was a failure: no one was killed and only a few vehicles were damaged.
