Alleged ‘ISIS bride’ refused bail after plea for help
Adelaide Lang |
A woman who allegedly married two Islamic State-linked fighters has again been refused bail, pleading for help following years of being “treated like dirt”.
Janai Samarra Safar was arrested in May after touching down in Australia with a group of women and children who were all returning from a Syrian refugee camp.
The 32-year-old was charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation, both of which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
She has been behind bars for two months after being denied bail due to the seriousness of the charges.
Her barrister made a second release bid on Wednesday, citing psychological impact on Safar from segregation in detention.
Safar suffered considerable psychological injury after spending years in a refugee camp in appalling conditions, which included limited food and pressure to tow the IS line, Michael Ainsworth said.
“She needs help to deal now with the ongoing effect of those seven years and some months in those conditions,” he told the court.
The 32-year-old has disavowed the IS ideology and any links, which she was unable to do in Syria because it would put her and her family at risk of retribution from enforcers, Mr Ainsworth said.
Safar has an extensive family in NSW who would help her recover after she spent years being “treated like dirt” and seeing things no one should ever have to see, he told the court.
The case against the alleged IS member relies on a newspaper article in which she talks about her life in the camp, which Mr Ainsworth suggested had misrepresented his client and would not be admissible.
But crown prosecutor Brian Massone said there was a video recording of the interview, and the veracity of the quotes appeared to be bolstered by texts between Safar and her father.
“I said my husband has weapons because if I said I didn’t they would know I am lying,” Safar allegedly texted her father about the article.
Both the comments in the newspaper and the texts were consistent with IS ideology, Mr Massone said.
He highlighted the fact Safar surreptitiously travelled to a declared area in Syria, knowing it was linked to an organisation that has carried out some of the worst atrocities in recent history.
“She married not one, but two fighters associated with Islamic State,” he told the court.
Expert evidence tendered to the court states that women in such organisations have agency and are not merely unsuspecting participants, Mr Massone noted.
Judge Marguerite Vassall said there was some strength to the prosecution case and refused to grant bail.
She noted there was evidence Safar had begun receiving treatment in custody and would be speaking with a psychiatrist in the near future.
She has not entered pleas to the charges and is not required to at this early stage.
Safar, who wore an orange jumpsuit as she dialled into the court from custody, kept a blank face as her second bid for freedom was denied.
She is one of several women who have been charged as a result of an almost decade-long investigation which began after the women travelled to the Middle East with their partners, who intended to fight for Islamic State.
Some of the women travelled willingly, but advocates say others were coerced or only made the journey to ensure their family was not separated.
One of the arrested women – Rayann El Houli, 34 – was denied bail by a Melbourne court on Tuesday after the airing of allegations that she tried to indoctrinate young children with extremist propaganda.
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AAP