Muslim young men who are charged with terror offences are just being teenagers, a university lecturer has told an Islamic conference in Australia.
Hanan Dover, who works as a psychologist, has defended teenagers across the globe who have been arrested in anti-terror raids and been charged with terror offences, saying they have been unfairly targeted.
Ms Dover, who works as a psychologist in Bankstown in Australia and lectures at the Western Sydney University, claims the Muslim men were targeted because their ‘teenage speak’ and normal ‘acting out’ was being criminalised.
She made the claims as part of a discussion panel at the 2nd Australasian Conference on Islam on Tuesday, which focused on radicalisation and Islamophobia, the Daily Telegraph reports.
‘I do have a lot of clients who have been charged with terrorism charges and who may have not been charged but were raided by the AFP and arrested,’ Ms Dover said.
‘Young teenagers act out, yet their acting out has been criminalised. The way they talk… is being criminalised as opposed to it being teenage speak.
‘It is quite unfair, and there is no previous indicators or violence or tendency, yet they are placed in maximum-security prison with other convicted criminals, until the AFP decide they don’t have enough evidence and are released.
‘When the Muslim community sees this, they see the double standards, they see the injustice.’
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