Parents of Australian facing possible death penalty in Syria question confession

The family of a Gold Coast man facing a possible death penalty for allegedly murdering another Australian in Syria has gone public to express frustration at the lack of progress made by the federal government in the case.

Patrick Stevenson, 20, has been detained for nearly seven months in north-western Syria accused of the shooting murder of Abdullah Glen Charles Burgess, 40, from northern New South Wales.

Mr Stevenson’s mother, Angela Bell, said Australian officials had told her diplomatic efforts had gone nowhere.

She told the ABC she was disappointed by her dealings with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). 

“They say … that their policy is that he shouldn’t have been travelling to Syria … and that’s where the conversation gets stuck,” she told the ABC’s 7.30 program.

“They use the word ‘limited’ a lot. They don’t use the word failure, but basically the sense is they … have limited capacity to help in this situation.”

The ABC has established that Mr Burgess was a tree lopper from the village of Eltham, near Lismore, who spent months in Afghanistan before settling in Syria last year with his Australian wife and their daughters.

According to Syrian authorities, Mr Burgess was shot dead in his home in the town of Darkush in Idlib province on December 31, while his wife and daughters were in another room.

Mr Stevenson was arrested nearby soon afterwards and later charged with premeditated murder, an offence punishable by death in Syria.

Syrian authorities allege he confessed to firing at least eight shots from an AK-47 at Mr Burgess.

But his family and Australian legal team say they do not know how the alleged confession was obtained and have raised serious concerns about whether he will receive a fair trial.

“Not a single document has come from Syria explaining the charges,” Ms Bell said.

“There’s no paperwork, there’s no access to Patrick.”

No Australian government representative has visited Mr Stevenson in prison, attended his court hearings or independently assessed his welfare.

Last week, Mr Stevenson’s father, Clay, travelled to Syria carrying his son’s Australian medical records and a psychiatric report for the court.

He visited Mr Stevenson in Sarmada prison and attended a court hearing on Sunday — the first time a member of the family had seen him since he secretly left Australia last October.

His parents say his mental health has deteriorated severely in detention.

Mr Stevenson has learning disorders, ADHD and probable autism spectrum disorder, according to a 2025 psychiatric report.

He travelled to Syria late last year and came to the attention of counterterrorism police after becoming radicalised, an ABC investigation has established.

The family’s Australian lawyer, Bernadette Zaydan, said the alleged confession raised “alarm bells” because it was unclear how it had been obtained.

“Was it given under duress? Was it given in writing? Was it given orally?” she said.

“We have grave concerns for his welfare.”

Ms Zaydan urged the federal government to press for Mr Stevenson to receive a transparent trial before an independent court, rather than one associated with Syria’s administration or armed forces.

Canberra struggling to gain access

The ABC understands Australia has made representations about Mr Stevenson’s case, but DFAT told his family last month that the Syrian government had shown little engagement.

Correspondence seen by the ABC shows the department repeatedly told the family it could not obtain information from Syrian authorities and had no access to the country’s detention facilities.

Australia has no embassy or consulate in Syria, severely limiting the consular assistance it can provide.

Canberra has also been unable to independently monitor the investigation into Mr Burgess’s death.

After the ABC revealed the case, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday that Australia was providing support to both families.

“Legal processes will take their course overseas, of course, and that is appropriate,” he said.

“I feel for the family of the person who’s lost their life, and we’re connected to them and providing support for them.

“We’re also providing support for the family of the man who’s been charged.”

But Canberra has struggled to establish relations with Syria’s new government, unlike allies including the United States and France.

Australia continues to impose sanctions on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the militant group from which Syria’s new leadership emerged, and lists it as a terrorist organisation.

The group, which formally dissolved last year, was previously affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Parents discovered police were investigating son

Mr Stevenson left Australia on a flight to Bali on October 10 before travelling to Syria.

His parents said they had no idea he had left the country.

“I was shocked to find out that he was there,” Clay Stevenson said.

“It’s just like, ‘Wow, what’s going through his head to be in Syria and who helped him get there?'”

Patrick Stevenson’s parents said he told them he intended to study at a Syrian university and hoped to find a wife.

They tried desperately to convince him to return home.

The family said they discovered he was overseas only after officers from the Queensland Police Security and Counter-Terrorism Command contacted them.

His parents said officers searched his bedroom at his father’s home and questioned them about extremist material he had allegedly posted in a group chat.

“He was talking to someone in a group chat that the Australian government were investigating and Patrick had come up as peripheral to another investigation,” Ms Bell said.

She said ASIO later questioned her about her son’s associations on the Gold Coast.

Mr Stevenson converted to Islam during his final year of high school in 2023, according to his family.

By last year, he was showing signs of radicalisation, including sharing speeches by Anwar al-Awlaki, the US-born Al Qaeda cleric and propagandist killed in a US drone strike in Yemen in 2011.

He also volunteered with Muslim Youth GC (MYGC), a youth group connected to the Worongary Mosque on the Gold Coast.

The group’s leader, Abdul Rahman Nasiri, said neither it nor any other local organisation had supported Mr Stevenson’s journey and he was free to make his own choices.

“We created MYGC to help young people [both Muslim and non-Muslim] steer away and overcome the negative challenges they face daily and give them the correct understanding of Islam, free from the stereotypes and misinformation that can appear online or in the media,” he said in a written statement.

Case referred to civilian court

DFAT advised Mr Stevenson’s family that Syrian authorities initially treated the shooting as an accident.

They later investigated whether he was affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group.

According to information provided to the family, that investigation ended in February when authorities referred the case to the civilian criminal courts as a murder prosecution, rather than as a terrorism case.

The prosecution is likely to test Syria’s fractured legal system as the country attempts to rebuild its institutions after 14 years of civil war.

Syrian legal sources told the ABC that it could take up to a year for the court to reach a verdict.

Any death sentence imposed by an ordinary criminal court would have to be reviewed by the Court of Cassation, considered by a clemency committee and approved by Syria’s president before it could be carried out.

Quiet man who avoided the camera

Those who knew Mr Burgess described him as quiet, devout and reluctant to be photographed.

“He was a very soft-spoken, gentle sort of guy,” said Shahz Rana, a former president of the North Coast Muslim Association.

“Not too talkative, just used to keep to himself, but was still nice and polite to others.”

Mr Rana said the news of his death had shocked the community.

“It was a little bit surprising that he was in Syria, but it was shocking news and I feel sad for him,” he said.

Mr Rana said Mr Burgess told community members in about 2024 that his family was moving to Malaysia to live in a Muslim community and learn more about the faith.

He was unaware the family had spent at least six months travelling through Taliban-ruled Afghanistan before moving to Darkush, near Syria’s border with Türkiye.

It is not known what brought the family to Syria. The ABC does not suggest they had links to extremist groups. 

People who knew the two men said Mr Burgess took Mr Stevenson under his wing and that they became close before the shooting.

Widow could spare Stevenson’s life

Mr Stevenson’s fate may ultimately rest with a third Australian: Mr Burgess’s widow, Amatullah Laurie Duniam.

Under the Syrian legal system, she could spare him execution by granting forgiveness, potentially in exchange for a payment of blood money, known as diya.

Ms Duniam and other members of Mr Burgess’s family declined to speak to the ABC.

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