Australia Worries About Rush of Prison Conversions To Islam

In Australia's New South Wales, prison authorities have become suspicious of the large number of conversions to Islam in the high security Goulburn prison. In a World Today interview, New South Wales Minister for Justice John Hatzistergos confirmed that Goulburn authorities have begun isolating the Islamic converts because of concerns that they were being paid to pray, and were using prayer gatherings as a cover to plan a prison escape. Convicted murderer Bassam Hamzy has become a religious leader in the prison and has converted over a dozen high security prisoners. Objecting to the new measures, Brett Collins of Justice Action said that if the conversions had been to Christianity instead, the prisoners would probably be on their way to release.