Secrecy orders and back exits as alleged gangster puts AFP under scrutiny

Large portions of key evidence in an alleged Sydney gangster's contested deportation case cannot be reported after sweeping court orders were made.

Australian Federal Police officers giving evidence are also testifying under a court certificate protecting them from prosecution if their actions broke the law.

Alleged double-murderer Masood Zakaria is asking the Supreme Court to permanently stay his charges over claims he was "kidnapped" by security contractors from Türkiye in 2023.

As the Australian Federal Police (AFP) comes under scrutiny over a forced deportation of an alleged Sydney crime boss, the secrecy around the case has increased.

Some of the AFP's most senior officers have spent this week being quizzed over their roles in the operation to capture and return Masood Zakaria from Türkiye to Australia.

Mr Zakaria has launched an unprecedented legal bid to have two gangland murder charges dismissed over claims the AFP had him "kidnapped" by a private security firm.

His lawyers argue the AFP acted unlawfully in paying Skytraders and Hart International $1.1 million to pick Mr Zakaria up from Turkish custody and return him to back to Australia.

Not only have large swathes of the officers' evidence been prohibited from being made public, but whether they appeared in person was also kept secret until they had finished giving evidence.

Lawyers acting for the AFP also successfully argued in court that officers being examined should give evidence under an undertaking that, if their actions breached Australian or Turkish laws, their testimony could not be used to prosecute them.

The AFP maintains its actions were lawful, though prosecutors fighting to save the case last week conceded Mr Zakaria's deportation was illegal.

Superintendent Jared Taggart, who began giving evidence on Monday, was ushered in and out of the Supreme Court through a secure entrance, driven in a car with tinted windows and surrounded by a security detail.

The experienced officer was involved in arranging the logistics of Mr Zakaria's return in 2023, with messages tendered to court showing him speaking with the security firm who received him in handcuffs in Istanbul.

Asked about some messages that had been requested in the court order by Mr Zakaria's barrister Murugan Thangaraj SC, Superintendent Taggart said they were lost when transferring phones.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Mr Thangaraj said.

"I transferred phones, those messages may have been lost in that process, it's a possibility," Superintendent Taggart replied.

"I'm telling you honestly in transferring locations perhaps I switched phones and perhaps in that process some had been lost."

Superintendent Taggart denied he deliberately deleted the messages when pressed by Mr Thangaraj.

The exchange on Wednesday centred on messages Superintendent Taggart sent regarding whether the AFP would loop in their NSW Police counterparts for the operation.

It comes as statements filed by NSW Police officers examined last week reveal how Mr Zakaria slipped through the fingers of law enforcement in 2021.

Documents previously tendered in the case this year revealed NSW Police believed Mr Zakaria had received inside information from a corrupt government insider.

Mr Zakaria had warrants issued for his arrest in December 2021 but the next day a surveillance device inside his home captured a chaotic scene.

"I reviewed surveillance device (SD) footage and saw that … Mr Zakaria and others had packed up the house at … Greystanes and moved out," Senior Constable Lauren Bennett said in her statement.

"Footage from Mr Zakaria's vehicle also showed him driving around with others, stopping at Azzah Zakaria [Mr Zakaria's wife] mother's address … Azzah Zakaria appeared extremely emotional during this meeting which took place nearby the vehicle.

"Mr Zakaria said goodbye to Azzah Zakaria. Mr Zakaria later left the vehicle parked on a street in Greystanes and walked away."

Police suspect Mr Zakaria left the country on a fishing boat in either Western Australia or Queensland before he was apprehended in the Turkish village of Mulga in 2023.

Mr Zakaria is charged with the gangland murders of Salim and Toufik Hamze and conspiring to murder Ibrahem Hamze.

If Mr Zakaria's application for a permanent stay of proceedings succeeds, the charges would not proceed and he could be released.

The hearings before Justice Edward Muston continue.