Ghassan Amoun, brother of jailed Brothers 4 Life leader Bassam Hamzy, pleaded not guilty in Burwood Local Court on Thursday to breaching two Serious Crime Prevention Orders.The court heard that on Friday, February 19, Amoun was stopped by police driving his white Audi A4 with a new QLD number plate registered to a business.During a search of the 44-year-old’s car, police found two phones in the centre console and another in a “secret console” under the driver’s side dashboard.They also found a laptop on the back seat, which Amoun claimed was owned by his wife, the court heard.Police allege the items and new number plates were not declared, which is required under the court order.Amoun’s lawyer Ertunc Ozen SC told the court two of his client’s friends had left their phones in the car and the third phone, with no SIM card, was a present for his niece.Mr Ozen said Amoun had notified police of his plan to move to QLD for work, and that he was planning to purchase a new car registration.He said Amoun had stayed out of trouble the past six years. The builder had even changed his last name to dissociate himself from the family’s bad rap.“Mr Amoud wants to make a life for himself away from trouble,” Mr Ozen told the court. “If this man was using phones to contact other members of the Hamzy group, you would know it. Everybody in this group is being surveilled.”Mr Ozen said his client should be bailed.“Unless we‘re going to lock up everybody related to Bassam Hamzy…there needs to be some proportion,” he told the court.Mr Ozen said his client was willing to “suffer any conditions” on bail.“He’s on stringent orders anyway,” he said.Police prosecutor Johnathon Falzon said Amoun faced five years in jail for the alleged breaches.“The breaches, in my submission, are not trivial,” Mr Falzon said.He said there had been a string of shootings the past few months connected to the battling families, including a shooting in Merrylands on February 19.Bassam Hamzy is the founder of the Brothers for Life criminal gang and Australia’s first and only extreme high-risk inmate at Goulburn supermax prison. He told the court of Amoun’s willingness in the past to assist his brother Bassam.“There’s material there that shows how he became involved with his brother…to shoot people if required…to do drive by shootings on a house,” Mr Falzon told the court.He said Amoun should not be released on bail, to protect the community and stop future criminal offences being committed. Magistrate Susan Horan said she would reserve her bail decision until Friday morning so she had time to make an “informed decision”.Strike Force Raptor issued stringent supervision orders on the Hamzy and Alameddine families in the Supreme Court last September to stop a bloody violent feud.In Amoun’s case there were 72 restrictions, including his use of mobile phones, his bank account details, car registrations and reporting any change of address.



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