Aran Sherani: Terror hopeful jailed for Melbourne fires, ISIS pledge

A man who made videos lighting fires and pledging himself to ISIS has been jailed.

Aran Sherani, 22, was found guilty of doing acts in preparation for a terrorist attack at trial late last year. Prior to the trial he pleaded guilty to a charge of being a member of a terrorist organisation.

Sherani’s case centred on two small bushfires lit on Melbourne’s outskirts in early 2021, with the then-18-year-old filming videos making threats and declaring allegiance to ISIS.

“You are not safe even in your cities, you are not safe, we will burn your cities … we will destroy you all,” he said.

He returned before the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday as Justice Amanda Fox jailed him for eight years.

“Any person who chooses to join Islamic State and commit offences in their name … must be publicly denounced,” she said.

He was supported in court by his parents and brother, Ari Sherani, who was arrested alongside Aran and acquitted on a terrorism-related charge at trial.

The court was told when police attempted to arrest Sherani in March 2021, he fled the family home on foot before purchasing a knife from a supermarket.

Holding a knife, he made a video pledging himself to ISIS and planned to use the knife to threaten police, believing he would be shot and become a martyr but lost his nerve.

“You made a considered decision to join Islamic State, the videos you made on March 17 show the depth of your commitment,” Justice Fox said.

At an earlier court hearing in July, Sherani told the court that he no longer adhered to Islamic State ideology.

“I distance myself from them completely. I oppose them philosophically and in every way,” he said.

Justice Fox said on the balance of probabilities, she was prepared to accept Sherani had rejected Islamic State and their violent ideology.

But she said the evidence showed he “remains a risk” of further radicalisation.

Sherani will be eligible for parole after serving six years imprisonment.