The Advertiser
Friday June 23, 2017
By Sean Fewster
Australian Federal Police arrest an Adelaide woman suspected of being a member of Islamic State.
THE young Adelaide woman charged with supporting terrorism would be in a war zone right now as a member of Islamic State had she not been arrested, authorities claim.
Federal prosecutors have further claimed they hold “grave fears” that, if not kept in custody, the woman will “escalate” from supporting terrorism to carrying out a real-world attack.
On Friday, the Adelaide Magistrates Court agreed and refused to release the woman on bail, saying she posed “a real risk” of undertaking “politically motivated violence” if freed.
Documents sighted by The Advertiser outline the Australian Federal Police’s case against the student, who was arrested last month.
They assert the woman, whose identity is suppressed, became radicalised prior to an IS attack in Mombasa on September 11, 2016 and was “mentored” by its instigators — all of whom were women.
They further assert she swore allegiance to IS in October last year, frequented the group’s messageboards and downloaded its propaganda.
She allegedly tried to leave Adelaide for Turkey in June last year, on a one-way ticket, but was stopped at Adelaide Airport due to surveillance of her activities.
All of those activities, they allege, occurred without the knowledge of her family, friends or community who were kept in the dark by her “superior ability” to disguise her intentions.
In the documents, the AFP assert that incident did nothing to deter the woman’s activities as, just before her arrest, she was recorded in her home singing songs praising the group and its ideals.
“We hold grave concerns that her activities will escalate from online to an act of (terrorism) in the real world,” the papers assert.
“The only reason she is not now in IS territory as a member of IS is that police prevented her from travelling in June 2016.”
The woman, 22, of Somali origin, was arrested at her western suburbs TAFE campus last month and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years’ jail.
Federal and state police alleged she had been under surveillance since she sought to fly overseas in July last year.
They further alleged she “intentionally was a member” of an organisation, “namely Islamic State, knowing that organisation was a terrorist organisation”, between May 23 last year and May 23 this year.
Police denied her arrest was brought on by last month’s Manchester terror attack, saying her arrest had been planned for some time.
On Friday morning, prosecutors filed two affidavits and a summary of their case with the court, ahead of the woman’s application for release on home detention bail.
Those documents allege the woman came to the attention of the AFP sometime prior to her attempt to leave Australia on July 14 last year.
They allege she “concealed her plans” from her parents and “took her passport without her mother’s knowledge”.
It is further alleged that, prior to her attempted departure, the woman engaged in “group chats” with three other people on a website “bannered with the IS flag”.
Prosecutors allege the woman “used encryption and other surveillance-avoidance techniques to disguise her activities and planning”.
Those skills, it is alleged, were taught to her by a group of IS loyalists that included a woman named Maimuna Hussein.
“(The woman) was being tutored by IS terrorists in Kenya who carried out a serious attack in Mombasa on September 11, 2016,” the papers allege.
They allege the Mombasa incident involved Maimuna and others using knives and petrol bombs in a surprise attack, and that the terrorists died as a result of their actions.
“Maimuna has an almost identical background (to the woman),” the papers allege.
She had no criminal history, was studying medicine at university and had made a previous attempt to join IS in Kenya in June 2015.
Prosecutors allege that, in the wake of the attack, the Adelaide woman “obtained and recited an oath of allegiance to the leader of IS” in October 2016.
“(She also) accessed extreme and violent pro-IS material and expressed her support for ‘Arab’ fighters in the Middle East,” the papers allege.
It is alleged that, between May 3 and 18 this year, the woman was recorded singing pro-IS songs — called “nasheeds” — in her home.
Their titles allegedly include “We are Muslim coming for you”, “He walked by night alone travelling to the land of Jihad”, “Soldiers of Allah”, “My eyes are calling me” and “Ya Illahi” — meaning “my God”.
Prosecutors allege another nasheed sung by the woman, called “Ghuraba”, is of particular concern.
“It is analogous to their ideology of feeling strange in this life compared to the better life in the Hereafter, which they claim to strive for,” the papers allege.
The Adelaide woman, 22, accused of being a member of Islamic State is led into the Adelaide Magistrates Court following her arrest. Picture: Greg Higgs.
On Friday afternoon, Craig Caldicott, for the woman, said her youth, lack of prior offending and the “weakness” of the prosecution case warranted releasing her on bail.
Much of the case, he said, seemed based on the equivalent of “talking to people on Facebook” but conceded she might have “a little angst toward the AFP”.
He said none of the allegations had been tested, and much material would have to be translated from Arabic, Somali and Swiss-German before its “true context” was known.
Mr Caldicott said similar cases interstate had resulted in offenders receiving good behaviour bonds, creating a risk the woman would serve more time waiting for trial than if convicted.
“What concerns me is the delay (until trial) will be quite long,” he said.
“The likelihood is any trial — and there will be a trial, my instructions are she’s not guilty — will be not next year, but the year after.”
He said the woman’s community — about 40 of whom filled the public gallery — would support her, with two willing to put up $5000 cash guarantees.
Anne Barnett, prosecuting, said the woman knew she was under watch and yet continued her behaviour, so was unlikely to be deterred by bail conditions.
“Most of this offending occurred in her home while she was being a recluse ... despite their being here today in support, she has not been a member of this community,” she said.
“She has been isolated and undertaking these activities clandestinely in the confines of her bedroom, unknown to the community and to her own family.
“When she went to the airport, her family was unaware — they thought she was at university.”