Tuesday May 23, 2017
By MICHAEL OWEN
Security officers escort the handcuffed Somali-born Muslim woman to the Adelaide Magistrates Court yesterday. Picture: Greg Higgs
A Somali-born Muslim woman from Adelaide has been charged with being a member of terror group Islamic State, but her lawyer says she will fight the allegations.
The woman, whose identity is suppressed due to an ongoing anti-terrorism investigation by federal and state authorities, faces up to 10 years in prison.
Handcuffed and wearing a hijab, the 22-year-old appeared calm in the dock of the Adelaide Magistrates Court late yesterday as she was accused of being a member of a known terrorist organisation. She made no application for bail and was remanded in custody until her next court appearance on August 15. Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner for counter-terrorism Ian McCartney said the charges were “serious and significant and should be not underestimated”.
He said it would be alleged the woman cultivated relationships with Islamic State members and also pledged her allegiance to the terrorist organisation.
The majority of the woman’s alleged criminal activities were conducted online, he said, where she connected with terrorism suspects around the world.
Police yesterday stressed there was no known link between the woman and the explosion in Manchester.
The South Australian Joint Counter-Terrorism Team, which includes the AFP and the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, started investigating the woman last July, when she attempted to travel overseas.
This “trigger point” ultimately led to the execution of search warrants on a property in Adelaide’s western suburbs yesterday morning and the woman’s arrest.
SA Police deputy commissioner Linda Williams said there was no planned attack and no known ongoing threat to South Australia in relation to the woman’s activities, although the investigation was ongoing.
“We’ve made constant risk assessments throughout the investigation and we are comfortable this was the right time to make the arrest,” she said.
The woman is an Australian citizen who arrived in the country at the age of 14 from Somalia. Mr McCartney said the complex investigation included obtaining evidence from “overseas jurisdictions”.
“She has been aware she’s been on the radar of law enforcement authorities in Australia,” he said.
“We’ve conducted a number of lines of inquiries, both online and offline, of various individuals.
“It is concerning that people so young remain susceptible to extremist ideologies and are willing to engage in criminal activities that attract significant penalties.”
Outside court, her lawyer Craig Caldicott said she would plead not guilty and protested her innocence, saying authorities had not provided any details of the case against her.
“If the AFP would give me their brief that they’ve been working on for the last year, then I might be able to answer some of the questions,” he said.
“She will plead not guilty because she hasn’t committed the offence. My instructions are that she will be applying for bail. She is not guilty of the charges and intends to defend them.
‘‘Because she is innocent of the charges, I would assume that is why she appears calm.”
He said the AFP had been investigating the matter since July last year yet had not “jumped on it”.
“Where is the evidence? You would have thought by this stage, after 10 months, they would have a ream of material they could place before the court, but here it is and they are asking for several months to get their act together.”