Prosecutors will on Tuesday drop terror charges against one of the alleged plotters of an Anzac Day attack on police because of a lack of evidence.
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On April 20 he was charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
Premier Daniel Andrews said before the hearing that he supports the police.
Despite having the major charge withdrawn, the court heard Mr Causevic would plead guilty to three summary charges, of possessing a prohibited weapon.
Causevic was the first Victorian to be held under a preventive detention order, which meant he was initially held by police for three days without charge in a maximum security prison unit.
Federal police had previously alleged Mr Causevic and Besim had planned to run down with a vehicle a police officer at an Anzac Day service, behead that officer with a knife and seize the officer’s gun to start a shooting rampage.
In affadavits sworn in the case already, federal agents have alleged that Causevic was nearby when his friend, Numan Haider, was shot by police at Endeavour Hills police station a year ago after he tried to stab two officers.
He was arrested as part of pre-dawn raids on April 18, along with Sevdet Besim, also 18, of Hallam, and Mehran Azami, 19, of Narre Warren, who has pleaded guilty to importing more than 200 weapons but was not charged with terror offences.
They’ve also said that Mr Causevic was seeking an Australian passport, and had sought to obtain weapons, including knives. Causevic’s bail conditions state he must remain in Australia.
“Message from Prime Minister here [is] … whatever young Muslim who [is] going five times per day in mosque will be charged like terrorists”, Mr Causevic said.
Outside the court, Mr Stary said the charges were based on flimsy evidence and the incarceration of an 18-year-old over such a long period raises questions about how authorities deal with such matters.
Police were unapologetic, and in a statement said they “undertook an operational resolution at an early stage to ensure there was no threat to the community”.
“Police would rather the risk of a prosecution failing than the risk of members of the community being hurt or killed through no overt action”, they said in a statement.
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Mr Causevic said while his son did not “understand Islam” he had not done anything wrong.
