A Sydney man charged with being a member of a Kurdish terrorist group is being harassed by Islamic State sympathisers at Silverwater jail his lawyer says.

Renas Lelikan, 38, appeared via video link at the Central Local Court on Thursday where he applied for bail after he was arrested by Australian Federal Police last week accused of being a member of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), a listed terrorist organisation.

media_camera Renas Lelikan is an Australian man of Kurdish origin.

“He is constantly being attacked and tormented and has been threatened by people who are in prison who are apparently sympathetic to ISIL,” his lawyer Phillip Boulton SC said.

Mr Boulton quoted an AFP media release issued after Lelikan’s arrest on July 20 that said there was no threat of a terrorist act as a result of its investigation into the 38-year-old journalist.

But Commonwealth prosecutor Imad Abdul-Karim told the court Lelikan’s alleged membership of the PKK could be proven by images obtained of him wearing the group’s uniform and posing with weapons, as well as other evidence that he raised funds for the group.

Lelikan was charged with the same offence in France in 2007 and when given bail, fled the country using a relative’s passport, Mr Abdul-Karim said.

He would therefore be a flight risk if released from custody in Sydney, Mr Karim said.

However Mr Boulton argued the images of the Kurdish journalist did not provide conclusive evidence that he was a member of the PKK.

“This is not compelling evidence, that anyone in the mountains of Iraq wearing puffy style hats and camouflage-style shirts is a member of the PKK,” he said.

About 60 members of the Kurdish community packed the public gallery in support of Lelikan.

Lelikan will remain behind bars until Friday when a decision will be made on his bail application.