The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, has listed the entity Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis for targeted financial sanctions under Part 4 of the Charter of the United Nations Act 1945, by which Australia implements United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1373 (2001) on preventing and suppressing terrorist acts.
This listing makes it a serious criminal offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison and substantial fines to use or deal with the assets of Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, or to make assets of any kind available to either of them, whether directly or indirectly.
Full details of all listed persons and entities can be found in the Consolidated List available at www.dfat.gov.au/sanctions.
Anyone who believes they hold an asset that may be owned or controlled by a listed person or entity must immediately notify DFAT at asset.freezing@dfat.gov.au and the Australian Federal Police at AOCC-Client-Liason@afp.gov.au.
The Australian Government remains determined to combat and prevent terrorism in all its forms.
Additional information:
Review by the Minister of listings due to expire
The Charter of the United Nations Act 1945 (the Act) and the Charter of the United Nations (Dealing with Assets) Regulations 2008 provide that the Minister must list a person or entity if satisfied on reasonable grounds that the person or entity is mentioned in paragraph 1(c) of UNSC Resolution 1373, that is, the person or entity is:
- a person who commits, or attempts to commit, terrorist acts or participates in, or facilitates, the commission of terrorist acts;
- an entity owned or controlled directly or indirectly by such a person; or
- a person or entity acting on behalf of, or at the direction of, such a person or entity.
Following the listing of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, there are currently 92 persons and entities listed under UNSC Resolution 1373. Listings must be reviewed every three years.
Request for a statement of reasons for a listing
DFAT will provide a listed person or entity with an unclassified statement of reasons for his, her or its listing. Requests may be submitted in writing to:
Director, Legal
Sanctions Section
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221 Australia
Or by email to asset.freezing@dfat.gov.au.
Application for revocation of a listing
A listed person or entity may apply to the Minister for Foreign Affairs to have his, her or its listing revoked. The application must be in writing and set out the circumstances relied upon to justify the application. Applications may be submitted to:
The Minister for Foreign Affairs
C/o Director, Legal
Sanctions Section
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
John McEwen Crescent
Barton ACT 0221 Australia
Or by email to asset.freezing@dfat.gov.au.
Application for sanctions permit to use or deal with frozen assets
The owner or holder of a frozen asset may apply for authorisation to use or deal with the asset in a specified way. The application must be in writing and specify whether the application relates to a basic expense dealing, a contractual dealing or an extraordinary expense dealing as those terms are defined in section 30 of the Charter of the United Nations (Dealing with Assets) Regulations 2008. Applications may be submitted through the Online Sanctions Administration System at https://sanctions.dfat.gov.au.