Canberra: An Australian nurse who has said he was forced by the Islamic State movement to work as a medic in Syria faces prosecution under counter-terrorism laws when he returns to Sydney today, police said.
Adam Brookman, 39, could become the first person to be charged under tough new laws which make it a crime to even set foot in the Islamic State stronghold of al-Raqqa province in Syria without good reason.
Brookman was voluntarily returning to Australia with a police escort on a flight from Turkey where he had surrendered to authorities, Australian Federal Police said in a statement.
He was "subject to ongoing investigations" but has not been charged, police said. "The public can rest assured that any Australian who is identified as a threat to security will be investigated by the relevant agencies," the statement said.
"If there is evidence an Australian has committed a criminal offence under Australia law while involved in the conflict in Syria and Iraq, they will be charged and put
before the courts," it said.
Brookman, a Muslim convert and father of five children who live in Melbourne, told Fairfax Media in May that he went to Syria last year to do humanitarian work for civilians caught in the conflict.
He said he was innocent of any crime. Brookman said he was forced to join Islamic State militants after being injured in an air strike and taken to a hospital controlled by the group.
"After I recovered, they wouldn't let me leave," he told Fairfax.
He won the militants' trust by working as a medic and was able to escape in December to Turkey where he eventually surrendered to authorities.
If charged, the onus would be on Brookman to prove he had a legitimate reason to be in the terrorist hotspot.
