courthouse (Illustration)
courthouse (Illustration)iStock

At his sentencing, disabilies pensioner Hamdi Aldqudsi, 42, expressed regret for recruiting Australians for ISIS.

Alqudsi was found guilty in July for helping seven men cross from Turkey to Syria to team up with Australian ISIS fighter Mohammad Ali Baryalei, who previously fought for the Al-Nusra Front, between June and October 2013.

During his sentencing, Alqudsi cried in court, saying it was unfair that he was classified as a terrorist.

“As an Australian I should have minded my own business,” Alqudsi told the New South Wales supreme court in Sydney on Wednesday. “I love Australia, I always have.”

Alqudsi faces a maximum sentence of 10 years for each of his seven counts of providing services with the intention of supporting hostile acts.

Although Alqudsi claims he doesn't even know if the "boys" made it to Syria, he clearly understood his position.

"You knew these men were going to be out in the fields of Syria engaging in warfare,” the prosecutor, David Staehli SC, said on Wednesday.

“Yes,” Alqudsi replied.

At least two of the men Alqudsi contacted are reportedly dead.

Alqudsi told the court that he had hoped that ISIS would help civilians, and encouraged the young men to go to what he considered a religion-friendly environment.

One of the men Alqudsi helped was stopped at Brisbane airport as he tried to leave the country.

The sentence hearing continues.