The lawyer for a Sydney nurse who went on a vile anti-Semitic rant has revealed they’ve parted ways.
The admission from lawyer Mohamad Sakr comes just hours after he issued an apology on behalf of his then client, Ahmad Rashad Nadir.
Nadir, 27, was stood down over a threatening rant against Jewish patients with his nurse colleague, Sarah Abu Lebdeh, while the pair were at work at Bankstown Hospital.
Nadir openly boasted that he had sent Jewish patients at the western Sydney hospital to ‘hell’.
After the video went viral, he was rushed to hospital on Thursday.
A day later, NSW Police raided his Bankstown home as part of their investigation into the incident.
Nadir personally apologised last week for the rant, insisting his comments were ‘a joke and a misunderstanding’.
He also spoke to the public through his lawyer, Mr Sakr, including a fresh apology on Monday.
But on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Sakr told Daily Mail that the two men had terminated their relationship.
‘I do not act for him any longer mate,’ Mr Sakr said.
Asked who was representing Nadir now, he said he had ‘no idea,’ and he refused to say why the relationship ended.
One day earlier, Mr Sakr had fronted Nine News and defended his then client.
‘By no means does my client protect what he has done,’ he said.
‘By no means does he hide from it. He does not represent a community of faith.’
Detectives have yet to formally interview Nadir or Abu Lebdeh or lay any charges.
Mr Sakr said on Monday his client would attend Bankstown Police Station when he was ‘mentally fit to do so’.
‘He is more than happy to cooperate with police.’
It’s unclear whether Nadir is still in hospital.
Nadir and Abu Lebdeh made their vile comments in a video chat with Israeli influencer Max Veifer, who recorded it and publicly released it.
Both Nadir and Abu Lebdeh claimed they ‘won’t treat Israeli people’.
Abu Lebdeh added: ‘I’ll kill them.’
‘You have no idea how many (Israelis) came to this hospital and I sent them to Jahannam (hell),’ Nadir said, while making a throat-slitting gesture.
Police said on Tuesday they are are still finalising a statement from Mr Veifer.
Officers from Strike Force Pearl – established in December to investigate anti-Semitic hate crimes – have decided to travel to Israel to take his statement in person, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The statement must be taken in person for it to be legally permissible in court.
Nadir was once celebrated as a refugee success story, an example of how migrants from war-torn countries could forge a new life in .
When he was just 7 years old, his father was killed in the war in Afghanistan and he fled the country with his mother.
They crossed Asia and ended up being plucked from a boat by the n Navy as they attempted to enter the country.
granted them asylum and they settled in Auburn, Western Sydney, when Nadir was 12.
He showed promise as a high school student – selected for coaching under the not-for-profit Helmsman Project, which aims to help teens from disadvantaged communities.
The organisation later included him in its promotional material as an example of ‘the power of hope, help and love’.
Nadir was studying to become a nurse when he was granted n citizenship in August 2020.
He graduated from university with his Bachelor of Nursing at the end of 2021, and began working for NSW Health, as well as at a medical centre in Sydney’s CBD.
Both Nadir and Abu Lebdeh have been banned from practice anywhere in following the comments.