Knock, knock - it's a hot summer night and Roger Rogerson is at the front door with a posse of Sydney's toughest cops.
Sticks of gelignite are discovered, and the family's young men are taken off for a rough night at CIB headquarters, joined by others arrested in simultaneous raids across the city. For them, and the entire community of migrants from Croatia, it's the start of a nightmare, ending in 15-year jail terms for terrorist conspiracy.
But even during their 10-month trial, holes appeared in the police case. Later the chief crown witness confessed on TV he made up his crucial testimony.
Decades later, a chance reference drew Walkley Award-winning journalist Hamish McDonald to explore this case. He uncovers evidence that authorities took pains to conceal from the court: that the crown witness was an agent of the Yugoslav secret service and had been under ASIO surveillance.
Did an unreformed police force, inept politicians, scheming security men and mutually back-slapping judges lead to Australia's biggest miscarriage of justice? This is Sydney's underbelly with a dash of international intrigue and espionage.
