Supporters of terror plot accused refuse to stand in Melbourne court

Four young men were following bomb-making instructions from an al-Qaeda magazine in their plots for terrorist attacks in Melbourne, a court has been told.

Hamza Abbas, 22, his brother Ibrahim Abbas, 23, Ahmed Mohamed, 24, and Abdullah Chaarani, 26, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court this week for a committal hearing to determine if they should stand trial.

Today, both Mohamed and Chaarani denied the charges and were ordered to face the Supreme Court of Victoria next week for an administrative hearing before the trial.

CCTV footage was played to the court showing Mohamed and Hamza Abbas purchasing hydrogen peroxide from the Campbellfield Chemist Warehouse on December 2.

The four men were also shown having a meeting on the steps of Federation Square on December 20.

A lawyer acting for Hamza Abbas argued there was no evidence linking him to the plots and it was only "conjecture" that he was part of the alleged plans with the other three.

However, prosecutor Patrick Doyle argued Hamza Abbas had been brought "into the fold" of the other men by the time he attended Chemist Warehouse with Ibrahim Abbas and met the others at Federation Square.

Mr Doyle also said images from al-Qaeda magazine, Inspire, were found on Chaarani and Mohamed's mobile phones.

The magazine had instructions on how to prepare an "iron pipe" explosive, which the four men were following, he added.

Mr Doyle said in doing so, they purchased Ramset power load cartridges, galvanised pipe elbows and other galvanised materials from Bunnings.

Magistrate Peter Mealy today reprimanded a group of women in court supporting the men.

He scolded the women, wearing burqas, for failing to show "simple acts of courtesy" as a "sign of respect for the law and justice" by standing as requested when he entered the room, as is court protocol.

Most of the women stood when asked twice to do so.

"It is sad that the simple act of failing to stand demonstrates views that are not consistent with the general views of respect in the community," Mr Mealy said.

The men are accused of plotting a terrorist attack on Flinders Street Station, Federation Square and St Paul's Cathedral on Christmas Day 2016, using an improvised explosive device and other weapons.

The court has previously been told that the men, who were arrested during raids by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in Melbourne's north on December 22, were allegedly found with a mixture made of sparklers and match heads.

The committal hearing continues tomorrow.

With AAP