Mariam Raad, the widow of ISIS recruiter Muhammad Zahab. Photo: ABC.
A woman arrested in Young and accused of entering and remaining in parts of Syria controlled by the Islamic State terrorist organisation has been released on bail.
Mariam Raad, the so-called ‘ISIS bride’, has been ordered to report to Young Police Station daily, surrender her passport and not enter any international airport or other point of departure from Australia. She has also been ordered not to contact anyone from a terrorist group, view any terrorist material or propaganda or acquire a firearm.
Police allege that Raad willingly travelled to an IS-controlled area of Syria in 2014 and that she knew about the activities of her husband, senior IS fighter Muhammad Zahab.
Raad, 31, was returned to Australia in October after spending almost three years in a displaced persons camp in north-east Syria. An airstrike reportedly killed her husband in 2018.
Appearing in Griffith Local Court via video link from Wagga, she applied for bail, saying her daughters suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after their time in Syria.
Raad has been charged with entering a “declared zone”, which can attract a 10-year prison sentence.
She was arrested on Thursday (5 January) in Young, where she has been living, following what police described as a complex and long-term investigation that began while she was still in Syria.
Police said on Thursday that new evidence had come to light that Raad was aware of the activities of Zahab, a former Sydney maths teacher who had risen high in the ranks of IS and brought at least a dozen other Australians to Syria.
Raad will appear again in Young Local Court on 15 March for mention.
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