He said young Muslims came to the gym angered by how they were portrayed in the media and by police. He said the club had about 40 members now but numbers had dropped over the past five months. He said about half were Albanian but 80 per cent of those were not Muslim. He said when the club moves to another premises, also in Bryants Road, Dandenong, he intends to drop "Albanian" from the name. Mr Abazi said he was shocked and angered by the raids on his relatives, the Besims. "They belted the absolute shit out of the father. He has a sore back. He hears a noise outside and thinks there is something wrong because he has four boys and he thinks they are fighting or something. And before he gets to open the door, they break the window, smash down the door, put him to the ground, smash him over the head, he cops a hiding," Mr Abazi said. "He said he thought he was being attacked by criminals with masks. Why wouldn't you (police) knock on the door? There has to be a better procedure than to harass the whole family. The young brother is 14. He got thrown from one end to another end because police 'suspect' something. Wait until he (the suspect) walks out the door and arrest him. I understand they fear for their life, I don't think they fear anything (with a force like that)," he said. Mr Abazi accused police of making the arrests as a show of strength for the media in the lead-up to Anzac Day after two of the men were released without charge.

"(I think they are saying to the public) Look what we have done, we have just saved Australia because Anzac Day was going to get attacked – beautiful day to put – and then suddenly release them. "They got a bunch of 18-19 year old kids for terrorism and they let them out. People should be asking why have they been wasting our money? What are you doing? Why aren't they saying: 'You stupid numb-nuts what have you done? How many people were involved in the (police) operation? You should have enough evidence to keep them in?' No, we are not talking about that. They just want to say we are doing a raid ... even though we have not got enough evidence to keep them after," he said. Meanwhile, Harun Mehicevic, who runs the Al-Furqan book store linked to the raids, has refuted any connection between them and the Springvale book store. Mr Mehicevic said claims to the contrary were "unfounded and misleading". He also questioned the amount of force used by police during the raids.

"As with previous raids, reports of police brutality, heavy-handedness and general mistreatment have already surfaced," he said. "Australian Muslims are hardly surprised by such accusations anymore as they have become customary of police interactions with many Muslims." Mr Mehicevic said it was "unsurprising" that most of the men involved had not been charged. "[It again calls] into question the need for military tactics against those not accused of criminal wrongdoing," he said. "We sincerely pray that all those affected and their families are granted patience and strength in this difficult period."

Mr Abazi said he had been previously investigated for anti-Semitic views but denies the claim and says no charges were ever laid. He said police had come to him for assistance in steering young people onto a better path. He said Mr Besim had never said anything that was "anti-police" and said his parents were "not religious". Mr Abazi said he had used his money to develop the gym to help young people pull their lives together and to get off drugs and alcohol.