IS member Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif jailed in SA legal first

A socially and emotionally isolated, immature and religiously obsessive young woman who swore fealty to the Islamic State terror group has been jailed for three years.

• The prosecution case: $170 and a one-way ticket to Turkey
• The defence case: Jurors told to be sceptical of prosecution ‘spin’
• The verdict: Former nursing student was an IS member, says jury
• The appeal: ‘IS member’ complains of trial ‘imbalance’
• The difference: IS member was non-combatant, says defence

A socially and emotionally isolated, immature and religiously obsessive young woman who swore fealty to the Islamic State terror group has been jailed for three years.

In a South Australian legal first, Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif will serve at least two years and three months’ jail for taking steps to join the infamous, feared organisation.

Because she has been in custody since her arrest in May 2017, Abdirahman-Khalif is now eligible to seek release on parole in August — but federal authorities may seek to have her detained indefinitely under Commonwealth law.

In sentencing, Justice David Peek said many “inter-related” factors left the former nursing student “susceptible” to the influence of terrorist recruiters, including the “toxic cocoon” of refugee camp life.

However, he said Abdirahman-Khalif had shown no remorse for her actions and continued to protest her innocence — and hold extremist beliefs — rather than accept responsibility.

“Your radicalisation occurred against a backdrop of social and emotional isolation, immaturity and naivety,” he said.

“(However) there is no getting around the fact that you blatantly lied to police … it is also obvious that you have displayed no contrition during your dealings with this court.

“You refuse to acknowledge the force of the prosecution (case) … you adhere to your fatuous story that your attempt to fly to Turkey was no more than an innocent last-minute holiday.

“I have no choice but to find that that connotes a considered decision on your part to adhere to a deliberate lie.

“I also find that it is not established that you no longer hold those extremist jihadist and Islamic State views.”

Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif. Picture: Nine News

Abdirahman-Khalif, 24, of Mansfield Park, pleaded not guilty to one count of being a member of a terrorist organisation between 2016 and 2017.

The maximum prison term for these charges is 10 years.

At trial, prosecutors alleged she was in contact with a three-woman terror cell in Kenya that staged an attack on a police station.

They further alleged she tried to leave SA for Turkey, without her family’s knowledge and with just hand luggage and $170, to join the organisation.

During the trial, the court heard she had IS propaganda videos, including beheadings, on her phone — experts could not, however, prove she deliberately downloaded that material.

It also heard Abdirahman-Khalif texted another person saying it was her “destiny” to be in Adelaide.

She told that person it was because there were few other “Muwahideen” — or followers of IS’s ideals — in the state, “just me”.

Jurors were played recordings that allegedly captured Abdirahman-Khalif singing pro-IS songs and swearing an oath of loyalty to the group.

They also watched videos of her interviews with authorities, during which she said it was a “coincidence” she had the phone numbers of known IS terrorists.

Abdirahman-Khalif was found guilty after just over three hours of deliberation and has already filed an appeal against her conviction.

During sentencing submissions last year, counsel for Abdirahman-Khalif said their client “does not see herself” as a member of IS.

They insisted she did “not understand the legal concept” of membership, and only wanted to undertake humanitarian work overseas.

Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif before an earlier court appearance. Picture: Nine News

Abdirahman-Khalif, they said, had never wavered from that position — which she gave when first arrested — even when interviewed by a psychologist.

Her counsel conceded terrorism was abhorrent, atrocious and intolerable, but asked the court not sentence her as it would an armed combatant.

On Tuesday, Justice Peek emphasised Abdirahman-Khalif had been convicted of taking steps to become a member of IS, not of planning violent acts.

Terrorism offences were, he said, a spectrum that began with those “eager” to do violence.

At its other end were those “who are no more than voyeurs, hangers-on or perhaps ‘Facebook chatters’, seeking to impress others by their chatter and bravado but who, in reality, pose no real threat to anyone”.

“It is almost trite to say that you, Ms Abdirahman-Khalif, fall somewhere between those two polar extremes,” he said.

He said she had consciously and deliberately downloaded IS propaganda to her phone and personal devices.

“(You claimed) much of the material found in your possession came to be there without your knowledge of their contents,” he said.

“These arguments were both weak and disingenuous and I reject them.

“You accepted the perpetrating of such extremist views and graphic violence as legitimate, thus evincing agreement with, and support of, IS.”

He said she had adopted the advice and modus operandi of the overseas cell, been “continually in communication” with them prior to their attack, and “praised” them afterwards.

He said that, just eight minutes after being released from detention at Adelaide Airport, she had “completely ignored” the warnings of Federal Police and immediately communicated with the group.

Justice Peek outlined Abdirahman-Khalif’s personal history, including 14 years spent in refugee camps.

“I find (that period), through no fault of your own, unfortunately deprived you of a normal childhood and greatly narrowed your real world experience,” he said.

“I find that, at age 20, you were very much less mature than the vast majority of 20-year-old Australian women.”

Justice Peek placed “some weight” on the psychologist’s conclusion that Abdirahman-Khalif was not “a dangerous person” and noted the “impressive” ongoing support of Adelaide’s Somalian community.

In her case, he said, “considerable attention” must also be paid “to the factors of youth and immaturity”.

He conceded imprisonment would create “severe difficulties” in her ability to pray multiple times a day as per her religious beliefs.

All of those matters, he said, had to be balanced against the need to impose a sentence that would deter others from following in her footsteps.

“(Terrorist) organisations must be starved of membership and stamped out,” he said.

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