ISIS bride faces court after spending night in police cells opposite noisy country pub

The ISIS bride and widow of Australia’s top ISIS terrorist was granted bail in court this morning after spending the night in police cells.

Mariam Raad, 31, is released from police custody after appearing via video link from Wagga cells in Griffith after being arrested in Orange and accused of entering or staying in an area controlled by the 2014 so-called Islamic State Group (IS) is controlled.

She returned to Australia in October last year and at the time Home Secretary Clare O’Neil said the repatriation had been briefed by national security advisers.

The 31-year-old asked for bail due to “extraordinary circumstances” and told the court that she and her children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their time in Syria.

As part of her bail conditions, she must report to the Young Police Station once a day, hand in her passport, and is not allowed to enter an international airport.

She spent the night in the wagga cells across from a noisy country pub after police failed to get to her wagga in time to appear before a prosecutor on Thursday because she was knowingly lying to her husband, an Islamic State operative in Syria. had connected.

After her arrest, Ms Raad was held in cells directly across from Wagga’s popular Romano’s Hotel, where music and feasting continued well past midnight.

It has been just ten weeks since Ms Raad was repatriated to Australia with three other ISIS brides and 13 children from a refugee camp in north-eastern Syria.

She is a mother of four with Muhammad Zahab, a Sydney math teacher-turned-Islamic State militant, a major terrorist recruiter and Australia’s top-ranking IS figure who died in a targeted airstrike in Syria in 2018.

Ms Raad was arrested following police raids at both Young and Parklea, west Sydney, the home of her sister-in-law and fellow ISIS bride Mariam Dabboussy.

Mariam Raad (right, with her IS terrorist husband who died in Syria in 2018) has spent the night in police cells opposite a noisy pub in NSW country

Mariam Raad was in Wagga police cells (above) on Friday morning, where she had spent the night waiting to appear via AVL to request bail

The mother of two sons, aged between 10 and 12, and two Syrian-born daughters, is accused of entering and staying in Syria under the control of the terrorist organization Islamic State.

Police allege Ms Raad traveled to Syria in early 2014 to reunite with Muhammad Zahab, who left Australia in 2013 to join the fight for Islamic State.

Zahab lured dozens of family members, including Dabboussy’s husband Kaled Zahab and his parents Hicham and Aminah, to Syria and then his own before Kaled’s death in 2015.

Hicham Zahab is in prison in Syria and his wife Aminah is among another three cohorts of 41 Australian ISIS wives, widows and children who are hoping to leave Syrian camps and board planes home in the near future.

Police allege Ms Raad knew of her husband’s activities for the Islamic State and joined him voluntarily and lived with him in the city of Raqqa until his death, after which she was taken to two different deportation camps housing other Australian ISIS brides lived .

Mariam Raad was in the cells directly opposite Romano’s hotel, where music and celebrations went on until 1am, after police took her to Wagga police station late for a hearing on Thursday afternoon

Mariam Raad, 31, has been charged with allegedly leaving the Australian coast to fight for Islamic State months after being rescued from a refugee camp

Police will claim Ms Raad traveled to Syria in early 2014 to join her husband Muhammed, who left Australia in 2013 to join the fight for Islamic State

Muhammad Zahab (pictured) was a prolific Islamic State recruiter who lured dozens of his family members to Syria before he was killed in a targeted airstrike in 2018

Ms Raad was one of 17 women and children rescued from Syria and relocated to Australia last October after police deemed her no threat to the nation.

Ms Raad was arrested following a joint investigation by Australian Federal Police and the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT).

In a statement, the JCTT said “newly obtained evidence” had led to Ms Raaad being charged.

Sandra Booth, AFP deputy commissioner for counterterrorism and special investigations, said Australians returning from declared conflict zones are being screened to keep the public safe.

“People will be brought to justice when evidence supports allegations that returnees have committed crimes in conflict zones,” Acting Deputy Commissioner Booth said.

“The JCTT will continue to target (alleged) criminal activity and will not target any specific ideologies or beliefs.”

NSW Police Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics commander Mark Walton said the NSW JCTT will continue to protect the community from those they believe pose a threat.

Ms Raad will stand before Wagga Wagga District Court on Friday. If found guilty, she could spend up to ten years behind bars

“We have zero tolerance for Australians – or anyone – attempting to commit acts of violence or extremism and those who consider doing the wrong thing will come under our scrutiny,” Deputy Commissioner Walton said.

“Our investigators methodically gather information and evidence, conduct surveillance and work tirelessly to target criminal activity that poses a threat to the Australian community.”

Ms Raad will stand before Wagga Wagga District Court on Friday.

If found guilty, she could spend up to ten years behind bars.

Ms Raad spent more than three years in al-Hol and al-Roj camps before being repatriated to Sydney.

The mother-of-four previously told The Australian while staying at a refugee camp that she posed no threat to Australians (pictured: Al Roj camp in north-east Syria).

The mother-of-four previously told The Australian at a refugee camp that she was ready to come home.

“I want to go back (to Australia),” Ms Raad said.

“I want my children to have a chance at a real future.

‘I am stressed. It’s not easy being a single mother with four children in a camp. The boys are getting older and I go to sleep every night imagining that they will be taken away from me.’

The group of repatriated women released a statement in October after landing in Australia.

“We stand ready to do whatever government authorities ask us to do to ensure the safety of our families and the Australian community and we will cooperate fully with all Australian law enforcement agencies,” the women said.

Another 43 women and children are still in the Syrian refugee camp and hope to be brought back to Australia later this year.