The UAE attorney general has drawn a direct line from a Melbourne Islamic centre to the alleged radicalisation of Hammam al-Hammami, the 29-year-old Omani co-pilot accused of attempting to hijack a Flydubai flight on 30 September and crash it into Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv. Dr Hamad Saif al-Shamsi said investigators traced al-Hammami's 'drift towards extremism and terrorism' to his time studying engineering at RMIT University in 2017, where he allegedly frequented a mosque affiliated with the university and became connected to a centre known as MyCentre, managed by a man known as Abu Hamza. The response from MyCentre's leader, Samir Mohtadi — who goes by Abu Hamza — was a four-minute Facebook video extolling the Islamic virtue of silence under attack. He cited the story of Mariam (Mary, mother of Jesus) choosing not to speak to her accusers. 'The best thing, sometimes, is not to say anything,' Mohtadi said. He made no reference to the hijack allegation, the UAE statement, or al-Hammami by name. The framing matters here. The UAE attorney general stated al-Hammami said he attended MyCentre and became acquainted with people associated with it. He did not allege that anyone at the centre was involved in radicalising the suspect, had kept in contact with him, or had any knowledge of his intentions. The gap between 'attended a centre' and 'was radicalised by a centre' is enormous, and the UAE statement does not bridge it. Al-Hammami allegedly told prosecutors he adopted ideas advocating violence, drew inspiration from the 9/11 attacks, and that the idea of a similar aircraft-based operation 'became firmly established in his thinking.' He allegedly prepared by intensifying exposure to terrorism-promoting material and training in boxing. RMIT confirmed he studied engineering but left before completing the qualification. He subsequently trained as a pilot in New Zealand between November 2018 and May 2019. The incident itself was severe: 182 people were on board when passengers and crew intervened to stop what UAE prosecutors describe as a 'premeditated terrorist plot.' Australian and New Zealand security agencies have launched investigations into al-Hammami's time in both countries. Australia's home affairs minister Tony Burke characterised the radicalisation as primarily online, while also flagging the government's desire to improve screening at borders and in online settings. This framing — emphasising digital radicalisation over physical networks — creates political space that avoids a direct confrontation with a Melbourne institution while keeping the security-screening narrative intact. The structural question is who bears the investigative and reputational cost when an international prosecutor names a domestic institution without alleging direct culpability. MyCentre now sits in a public spotlight with no formal charge to answer and no clear mechanism to clear its name. Mohtadi's silence strategy may be legally sound but does nothing to resolve the information vacuum that prosecutors, media, and the public are now filling with inference.
