LONDON: An Australian woman accused of joining Daesh to be with her husband, a senior fighter and recruiter, has appeared in a regional court after being repatriated from Syria’s Al-Roj camp.
Mariam Raad, 31, appeared on Wednesday at Young Local Court in New South Wales, wearing large sunglasses and a facemask.
If found guilty of the charges, she faces up to 10 years’ in jail. Prosecutors are set to compile evidence including financial records and phone messages.
The 31-year-old mother-of-four allegedly left Australia for Syria to join her husband, a former mathematics teacher who became a top recruiter for Daesh before his death in 2018.
Following the collapse of the terror group, Raad was captured and transferred to the Al-Roj camp in northeastern Syria, which houses thousands of former Daesh members and their families.
She spent three years in the camp before being repatriated to Australia along with three other women and 13 children in a government mission in October last year.
Raad has lived in Young since her return. However, she was arrested in January and charged with breaching federal law by entering Syrian territory under the control of Daesh.
Prosecutors will attempt to prove that Raad was aware of her husband’s involvement in the terror group.
She made no comment during the short hearing. The next court date was set for May 10 after her lawyers requested an eight-week adjournment.
