What is the latest information on prisoners challenging the nature of their detention in New South Wales prisons?
Mr NATHAN REES: I thank the member for Kiama for his question and his longstanding interest in this matter. Bassam Hamzy and Emad Sleiman may not be names immediately familiar to New South Wales residents, but these men are indeed two of the State’s most hardened and notorious prisoners. Sleiman brutally knifed a young man, Jason Burton, who was out with friends celebrating his birthday in Parramatta, a birthday which tragically turned out to be his last. It was a brutal and senseless killing in every way, for which Sleiman deservedly received a 16-year sentence. In a similar vein, Bassam Hamzy killed a man outside a Darlinghurst nightclub in 1998. He conspired to kill a key witness and fled abroad, where he organised the importation of cocaine to Australia before being captured. He is serving a 14-year sentence, every day of which is well deserved. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Terrigal to order. Mr NATHAN REES: The crimes and misdeeds of these men did not stop at the pris
