{{Short description|Former Australian jihadist}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}} {{Use Australian English|date=March 2019}} '''Robert "Musa" Cerantonio''' (born 28 January 1985) is a former ISIS propagandist<ref name="theatlantic">{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Graeme |date=2022-03-31 |title=Why an ISIS Propagandist Abandoned Islam |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/03/deprogramming-isis-supporters-jihadi-extremism/629433/ |access-date=2022-04-07 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> who has been called perhaps "the most famous jihadist in Australia".<ref name=GWWotS2017:89>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.89</ref><ref name="theatlantic" /> Cerantonio converted to Islam in 2002, he became an Islamic preacher a few years later, then a supporter of the restoration of the caliphate, and of the Islamic State terrorist group. He has been arrested and deported once, and is currently serving a prison sentence for trying to travel by boat from Australia to ISIS territory in the southern Philippines. He is due for release in May 2023.
{{Infobox criminal | name = Robert Cerantonio | birth_date = 28 January 1985 | birth_place = Australia | other_names = Musa Cerantonio | citizenship = | education = | known_for = Australian jihadist preacher and ISIS supporter | children = 2 | criminal_charge = foreign incursion with the intent to engage in hostile activity | criminal_penalty = 7 years in prison }}
==Early life== Cerantonio was born on 28 January 1985 in West Footscray, Melbourne, Australia to a Catholic family of six. He is of Italian and Irish heritage.<ref name="theatlantic" /> He has described his upbringing as nominally Catholic. "We weren’t very practising, and whilst we were Catholic by name, we didn’t go to church except on Christmas or Easter, or when someone died or was getting married," he said.<ref name="Zielinski-12-7-2014">{{cite news |last1=Zielinski |first1=Caroline |title=Musa Cerantonio: The tale of the try-hard jihadist |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/musa-cerantonio-the-tale-of-the-tryhard-jihadist-20140712-zt5jh.html |access-date=22 March 2022 |agency=The Age |date=12 July 2014}}</ref>
He attended a Catholic primary school, and Footscray City College for secondary education. The City College had an informal atmosphere and was "a very liberal school, influenced by the politics of socialism," according to Cerantonio.<ref name="Zielinski-12-7-2014" /> In 2000, at 15, he visited the Vatican "to strengthen his Christian faith". Instead of becoming firmer in his belief, "I began to question the role of the Pope in the Catholic Church…and saw people praying to a dead body. There was idol worship at the home of my faith…and I felt in my heart that this was not right."<ref name="Zielinski-12-7-2014" />
Cerantonio has two children from a marriage to "an Australian of Lebanese descent."<ref name=GWWotS2017:98/>
===Conversion to Islam=== In 2002, during the month of Ramadan and at age 17, Cerantonio converted to Islam. It came after two years of reading about Islam. After converting to Islam, Cerantonio joined Tablighi Jamaat.<ref name=GWWotS2017:93/> In 2005, he visited Medina in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://afterhardship.blogspot.my/2012/03/musa-cerantonio.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180415081444/http://afterhardship.blogspot.com/2012/03/musa-cerantonio.html|archivedate=2018-04-15|url-status=dead|title= AN UPDATE|date=August 2016|website= afterhardship.blogspot.com}}</ref> Cerantonio later enrolled at Victoria University, Australia where he studied communications and history. While at the university he was President of the Islamic Society.<ref name="Zielinski-12-7-2014" />
== Islamic activism== ===Early activity=== He engaged in activism and preaching. In 2006, Cerantonio performed his first Hajj.<ref name=cnn>{{Cite web|url=http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-690590|title = CNN - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos}}</ref> As a convert to Islam he lectured at conferences in Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE and the Philippines. He has authored dozens of articles on Islam.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://en.islamway.net/scholar/2581/musa-cerantonio |title=Musa Cerantonio - Islamway |website=en.islamway.net |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> Journalist Graeme Wood, who has interviewed Cerantonio extensively, described him as a "neofundamentalist autodidact."<ref name="theatlantic" />
In 2011, Cerantonio was invited to Cairo, Egypt to become a televangelist by the Saudi-backed Iqraa satellite network.<ref name="GWWotS2017:93">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.93</ref> He presented the shows "Ask the Sheikh" and "Our Legacy". His TV presentations became "increasingly political" as he gravitated toward advocating "the establishment of a caliphate controlled by a single absolute leader and run strictly according to Sharia.<ref name=GWWotS2017:94>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.94</ref> He was fired from Iqraa for refusal to abandon preaching for the revival of the caliphate, beaten by Iqraa station staff, and left Egypt in 2012.<ref name=GWWotS2017:95>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.95</ref>
===Philippines 2012-June 2014=== According to Wood Cerantonio's passion to establish the caliphate led him to the southern Philippines in 2013, where support for the idea was allegedly strong, and so it might be possible to establish a caliphate.<ref name=GWWotS2017:98>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.98</ref>
He fled to the Philippines under the pretext of visiting his brother. His brother was in Manila, but he traveled to Mindanao. While there, during fighting between the Philippine Army and the Moro National Liberation Front his apartment was bombed by warplanes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/musa-cerantonio-muslim-convert-and-radical-supporter-of-islamic-state-20141205-121c8s.html |title=Musa Cerantonio: Muslim convert and radical supporter of Islamic State |first=John |last=Safran |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=15 January 2015 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref> In February 2014, while in the Philippines, he married another convert to Islam, Joan Montayre, a 32 year old designer, and moved to an apartment in the Cebu province.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
An April 2014 report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalization at King's College London, identified Cerantonio as one of the two most popular and influential clerics urging Muslims to immigrate to the Islamic State and wage jihad.<ref name="GWWotS2017:90">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.90</ref> Cerantonio's Facebook account in support of Islamic State had 12,000 followers when it was shut down in May 2014.<ref name="GWWotS2017:91">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.91</ref> He started his connection with ISIS translating its speeches and official documents into English around June 2014.<ref name="GWWotS2017:98-99">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.98-99</ref>
In mid-2014, Islamic State and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's declared the group had formed a new caliphate with al-Baghdadi as the new Caliph, and commanded all Muslims to pledge allegiance to al-Baghdadi and "make haste" to Syria to fight or help the jihad. While "ecstatic" over the announcement and urging his followers to obey the caliphate, (to the amusement of his critics), Cerantonio neither publicly pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi nor traveled to Syria. Publicly swearing allegiance to al-Baghdadi was a violation of Australian law (Cerantonio agrees it is compulsory for Muslims to swear allegiance to someone who meets the qualifications for a caliph, and that al-Baghdadi meets those qualifications, but will not say if he has sworn allegiance to him);<ref name="GWWotS2017:99-100">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.99-100</ref> and according to Cerantonio, he and his wife had difficulty immigrating.<ref name="GWWotS2017:99-100" /> In June 2014, a Facebook post on Cerantonio's account indicated he had arrived in Syria.<ref name="GWWotS2017:99-100" /> Cerantonio says it was posted to throw the police off the search, and technically he had not lied to his followers because another person posted the claim.<ref name="GWWotS2017:101">Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.101</ref>
Despite his efforts to stay offline and off the phone, in July 2014 Cerantonio was arrested in the central Philippines city of Lapu-Lapu for overstaying his visa and deported to Australia.<ref name=GWWotS2017:100-101>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.100-101</ref> Cerantonio claims he was denied access to a lawyer by Warden L’rev J. Del Cruz. "The warden was telling inmates not to talk to me because I was a terrorist,” he says. After two weeks in detention he was deported to Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.spookmagazine.com/preacherspyterrorist/ |author=Koslay, Mariam |title=The Untold Story of Musa Cerantinio |access-date=19 June 2017 |website=spookmagazine.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618012335/http://www.spookmagazine.com/preacherspyterrorist/ |archive-date=18 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-11/preacher-musa-cerantonio-arrested-in-the-philippines/5591394 |title=Australian preacher Musa Cerantonio arrested in the Philippines over support for Islamist militants |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=11 July 2014 |website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref>
In September 2014, an open letter, known as the Letter to Baghdadi, addressed to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State, was published. A theological refutation of the practices and ideology of the Islamic State, it was signed by dozens of Islamic scholars.<ref>{{cite web|title=Letter to Baghdadi|url=http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/|url-status=dead|website=Lettertobaghdadi.com|page=|access-date=23 March 2016|archive-date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208110812/http://www.lettertobaghdadi.com/}}</ref> Cerantonio condemned it as a "letter of ignorance and disbelief".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://musacerantonio.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/a-response-to-the-open-letter-written-to-the-khalifah-al-baghdadi-part-1-hijrah-abul-khattab-al-janubi/ |title=A response to the open letter written to the Khalifah Al-Baghdadi (Part 1 – Hijrah) – Abul-Khattab Al-Janubi |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=11 October 2014}}</ref>
===Australia May 2016 arrest - 'Tinnie plot' === In 2016, acting detective Sgt Adam Foley said that according to worldwide intelligence services Cerantonio was the second or third most influential jihadist preacher in the world.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/melbourne-man-robert-musa-cerantonio-one-of-top-two-or-three-jihadist-preachers-in-world-court-told/news-story/2a3464f514b6d7b290e7bd5b5fe00316|title=Melbourne man Robert 'Musa' Cerantonio one of top two or three jihadist preachers in world, court told|website= The Herald Sun|date=}}</ref>
In May 2016, Cerantonio was arrested in Queensland (along with four others) as the "ringleader" of a plot to flee the country in a boat, and for "making preparations for incursions into foreign countries to engage in hostile activities." The group planned to sail 3500 km to the southern Philippines, "overthrow" the provincial government and "install Sharia Law".<ref name=ap-jails>{{cite news |title=Australian judge jails extremist for Philippines boat plot|work=AP News| url= https://apnews.com/article/8d99f6084e414c3bb2f459501bdb2bd0 |date=3 May 2019 |access-date=21 March 2022}}</ref> The members of the group planned to sail because they could not fly; they had had their passports cancelled "due to concerns they would become foreign fighters".<ref name=ap-jails/>
After his arrest Cerantonio was remanded in custody, with the trial delayed and expected in January 2018.<ref name="abc-5men-charged" /> The other four arrested were Paul Dacre, Anthony (Antonio) Granata, Kadir Kaya, and Shayden Thorne. Thorne is the brother of controversial Islamic preacher Junaid Thorne. A sixth man, Murat Kaya, brother of Kadir Kaya, was arrested separately at his Melbourne home.<ref name="abc-murat-kaya-nobail">{{cite news |last1=Hancock |first1=James |title=Murat Kaya, accused of helping 'tinnie terrorists' buy boat, refused bail in Melbourne |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-23/man-accused-of-helping-islamic-state-boat-plot-refused-bail/7873118 |accessdate=21 May 2020 |work=ABC News (on-line) |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=23 September 2016 |language=en-AU}}</ref> Police alleged that the group towed a seven-metre boat 3,100 kilometers from Melbourne, and had planned to travel by sea on it to West Papua, (despite having no sailing experience) and finally to Syria, intending to join Islamic State.<ref name="abc-5men-charged">{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-19/five-men-extradited-arrive-melbourne-alleged-boat-plot-cairns/7426722 |title=Men charged over alleged boat escape plot arrive in Melbourne |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=18 May 2016 |website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/vic-trial-over-tinnie-plot-delayed-to-2018/b4c5a8f7-df61-491e-8f4e-d4440789b8b8 |title=Vic trial over tinnie plot delayed to 2018 |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=14 June 2017 |agency=AAP |website=www.9news.com.au}}</ref> Later it was found they actually intended to stay in the southern Philippines to help militant Muslims overthrow the government there.
Graeme Wood mused, <blockquote>I tried to envision the improbable scene of five hairy mujahideen desperate not to look suspicious while hauling a deep sea fishing boat across the Outback. Did they want to get caught? After all they can now say they did what they could to reach the caliphate. And they will probably never have to leave Australia.<ref name=GWWotS2017:98>Wood, ''The Way of the Strangers'', 2017: p.98</ref> </blockquote>
All those involved in the plot pled guilty and received prison sentences in February 2019. Thorne was sentenced to three years and ten months, but by then he had already served most of his minimum time.<ref name="abc-shayden-sentence">{{cite news |last1=Percy |first1=Karen |title=Melbourne man sentenced over plot to support Muslim militants in the Philippines |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-26/shayden-thorne-sentenced-to-jail-over-foreign-incursion-plan/10851518 |accessdate=21 May 2020 |work=ABC News (on-line) |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=26 February 2019 |language=en-AU}}</ref> Dacre, Granata, and Kadir Kaya were each sentenced to four years in prison, three years non-parole period. Murat Kaya was sentenced to three years and eight months, two years and nine months non-parole.<ref name="abc-four-melb-men-sentence">{{cite news |last1=Karen |first1=Percy |title=Melbourne men jailed over 'poorly planned' Filipino government overthrow plot |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-22/melbourne-man-plead-guilty-over-philippines-foreign-incursion/10837956 |accessdate=21 May 2020 |work=ABC News (on-line) |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=22 February 2019 |language=en-AU}}</ref>
==Criminal conviction== In May 2019, Cerantonio was sentenced to seven years in prison for his part in the 2016 plot.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-03/robert-cerantoni-sentenced-planned-foreign-incursion-philippines/11076778 |title=Robert Cerantonio, extremist ringleader who tried to sail to the Philippines to overthrow government, jailed for 7 years |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=3 May 2019 |website=www.abc.net.au}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/courts-law/leader-of-tinnie-terror-plot-robert-cerantonio-jailed-over-2016-plot/news-story/11ae7412dd3b4a329bf5f027e805a634 |title=Leader of 'tinnie terror' plot Robert Cerantonio jailed over 2016 plot |author=Smith, Rohan |access-date=22 May 2020 |date=3 May 2019 |website=NewsComAu}}</ref> For his defense, his lawyer, Jarrod Williams, said that Musa "doesn’t always fit the profile of an Islamic extremist", as he enjoys music by the likes of AC/DC, Cold Chisel, Johnny Cash, Paul Simon and Rammstein.<ref>Australian Associated Press (3 May 2019), [https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/may/03/melbourne-tinnie-terrorist-leader-jailed-for-seven-years-over-philippines-plot "Melbourne 'tinnie terrorist' leader jailed for seven years over Philippines plot"], ''The Guardian''. Retrieved 28 May 2019.</ref>
In 2022, Cerantonio wrote to Graeme Wood from Port Phillip Prison and announced he had renounced both ISIS and Islam and become an atheist. He expressed regret for his support of ISIS and activity on their behalf, saying, "Seeing individuals dedicate themselves to tyrannical death cults led by suicidal maniacs is bad enough. Knowing that I may have contributed to their choices is terrible."<ref name="theatlantic" />
Cerantonio stated that he had begun to study the Quran in greater detail in prison, particularly the 18th chapter, where Dhu'l-Qarnayn appears. He noticed similarities between Dhu'l-Qarnayn and an Aramaic story about Alexander the Great, and thought the Aramaic text had been plagiarized from the Quran, but after acquiring a copy of the Aramaic text and translating it himself, he determined that in fact the Quran had been plagiarized from the Aramaic story, not the other way around. He told Wood, "Realizing that Dhu-l Qarnayn was not at all a real person but was rather based on a fictional account of Alexander the Great instantly left me with only one possible conclusion: The Quran was not divinely inspired." After he left Islam, Cerantonio resumed using his birth name, Robert.<ref name="theatlantic" />
=== Release === Murat Kaya was released under a control order in late January 2020, and Shayden Thorne in early March 2020 under an interim control order.<ref name="9news-release-thorne">{{cite news |author1=Staff |title=Government slammed as 'tinnie terrorist' comes home to WA |url=https://www.9news.com.au/national/tinnie-terrorist-shayden-thorne-released-from-victorian-jail/ac9317f9-52f3-49a6-be17-5967435974e4 |accessdate=23 May 2020 |work=www.9news.com.au |date=7 March 2020}}</ref> In September 2021, the Murdoch-owned ''Herald Sun'' reported Cerantonio would soon be released from imprisonment but would be kept under surveillance. <ref>{{Cite news |date=September 26, 2021 |title=Freed terrorists to be kept under close watch |url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/freed-terrorists-to-be-kept-under-close-watch/news-story/3f408bf72fcaf3b4884b48f0db27200b |access-date=May 26, 2026 |work=The Herald Sun}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last1=Wood |first1=Graeme |title=The Way of the Strangers : Encounters with the Islamic State |date=2017 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8129-8875-8 |pages=88–139 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bPoOCwAAQBAJ&q=The+Way+of+the+Strangers+by+wood |access-date=22 March 2022 |chapter=Musa Cerantonio |ref=GWWotS2017}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerantonio, Musa}} Category:Australian Islamists Category:Australian propagandists Category:Living people Category:1985 births Category:Islamic State propagandists Category:Australian atheism activists Category:Activists from Melbourne Category:Australian former Christians Category:Australian people of Italian descent Category:Australian people of Irish descent Category:Former Muslim critics of Islam Category:Australian former Sunni Muslims Category:People from Footscray, Victoria Category:Converts to Islam from Catholicism Category:21st-century Australian criminals