The Age
Man accused of sharia assault called bin Laden 'soldier of God'
Thu July 21, 2011 7:19am
A MUSLIM man who once called Osama bin Laden a ''soldier of God'' participated in a brutal flogging of a man to impose his religious beliefs and his standing in the Islamic community, police have alleged in court.
But unpaid debts, not alcohol, are thought to be behind the assault of Silverwater man Christian Martinez, sources in the Muslim community said.
Wassim Fayad, 43, was one of four men who allegedly broke into the Silverwater townhouse of Mr Martinez, 31, in the early hours of Sunday morning, held him down and whipped him repeatedly with a cable, allegedly as sharia punishment for drinking alcohol.
But Mr Martinez, an electrician by trade, was known to ''owe a lot of people a lot of money'', according to one local Auburn source, and the attack had nothing to do with sharia law, which punishes the consumption of alcohol with 80 lashes.
The Herald sought comment from Mr Martinez yesterday but he was not answering his phone. It is believed he has signed an exclusive contract to tell his story to Channel Seven.
The alleged instigator of the attack, Mr Fayad, also allegedly stole a CCTV hard drive and a quantity of Budweiser beer from Mr Martinez, who was a recent convert to Islam.
Mr Fayad is due to be released from Silverwater correctional centre today after being granted strict conditional bail in Burwood Local Court yesterday.
Mr Fayad, a father of six from Auburn, works part time at the Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore in Auburn and was reported in May as saying bin Laden was a soldier of God who ''died a martyr and … is now in paradise''.
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