Federal police deny trying to influence Turkish authorities when paying a private third party to deport an alleged crime boss to face murder charges in Australia.
Alleged Alameddine gang senior member Masood Zakaria, 31, fled the country in 2021 while on bail and resurfaced in Turkey accused of using a fraudulently obtained Afghan passport.
He was deported from Turkey in December 2023 on a chartered flight escorted by what he calls paid mercenaries from the security firm Skytraders.
Once on Australian shores, Zakaria was charged with the gangland murders of Toufik and Salim Hamze and a conspiracy to murder Ibrahem Hamze
However, Zakaria is now seeking to put those allegations on ice.
He argues the charges should be permanently stayed because his deportation from Turkey was unlawful.
His lawyers have alleged the actions of Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers in Ankara, including pressuring Turkish authorities to deport him and paying for the chartered flight, meant his removal from the country was unlawful.
The 31-year-old says he was deported before he had a chance to appeal the decision.
Superintendent Marie Andersson was the senior officer in Ankara at the time of Zakaria's deportation and faced a heated grilling by his barrister Murugan Thangaraj SC in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday.
She admitted that material provided to the Turkish National Police's Department of Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime - known by the acronym KOM - may have encouraged them to "kick him out" of the country.
A message sent by the senior officer in February 2023 noted how KOM operated.
The AFP took advantage of this approach, Mr Thangaraj suggested.
"The AFP knew it was trying to influence these decisions by providing information to Turkish authorities; do you agree with that?” he asked.
"What I was doing was providing context and perhaps making predictions as to what the Turkish authorities might do," she replied.
"It certainly wasn't to leverage or to influence."
She denied suggestions the AFP had promised the Turkish government it would pay for the chartered flight and the Skytraders escort.
She said if the government asked for reimbursement, the federal police would have considered it.
The court was shown that Skytraders sent their invoice directly to the AFP and not the Turkish authorities and police paid what was owed.
Turkey had threatened to send Zakaria to Lebanon if the Australian government did not pick up the bill, Supt Andersson said.
However, she stressed the AFP had never promised to pay the invoice.
"We keep out of it," she testified.
"I was abundantly cautious and super cautious to make sure we weren't doing anything that would compromise anything."
The hearing before Justice Edward Muston continues.
