SA woman convicted of terrorism offences, Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif, ‘does not see herself as a member of Islamic State’

The first South Australian convicted of terrorism offences “does not see herself” as a member of Islamic State and “does not understand the legal concept” of membership, a court has heard.

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The first South Australian convicted of terrorism offences “does not see herself” as a member of Islamic State and “does not understand the legal concept” of membership, a court has heard.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif still insists she was travelling overseas to undertake humanitarian work, not join the terrorist group, despite the verdict of a jury.

It also heard she had given her psychologist “the same explanation” for her aborted one-way trip to Turkey that she gave when Federal authorities stopped her at Adelaide Airport.

Bill Boucaut SC, for Abdirahman-Khalif, asked the court to recognise “the difference” between his client and an armed combatant when passing sentence.

Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif, 22. Picture: Nine News

“She does not understand the legal concept of membership, and she does not see herself as a member of IS,” he said.

“There is a difference between a terrorist and a member of a terrorist organisation — the two are not necessarily the same thing.

“The whole offence is not going out to do atrocious things … there is a distinction, surely, to be drawn between a person who might be motivated for ideological purposed to do good things, and those motivated by the same beliefs to do bad things.”

Justice David Peek, however, said membership was a “serious” concept that “could not just be whittled away”.

“You must also accept that one can do more to support a terrorist organisation than pulling the trigger,” he said.

Abdirahman-Khalif, 23, of Mansfield Park, pleaded not guilty to one count of being a member of a terrorist organisation between 2016 and 2017.

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 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 in September.

In sentencing submissions on Tuesday, the court heard evidence from forensic psychologist Lorraine Lim, who interviewed the convicted IS member five times — at the request of defence counsel — to prepare a report.

She said Abdirahman-Khalif told her she was “excited” upon her move to Australia, aged 13, and after a time at Islamic College found friends and happiness at a public school.

“She appeared to have social connections that she enjoyed, and she felt connected and part of a group,” she said.

She and four close friends moved on to nursing studies at university but, eventually, she struggled academically and dropped out.

“She was ‘having too much fun’, that’s what she reported,” Dr Lim said.

“Dropping out was a critical factor from the perspective of her becoming socially disconnected from her peer group, which led to her becoming more engaged in online communication and activities.”

Dr Lim said that, coupled with increasing tensions within the Abdirahman-Khalif family, led to her increasing reliance upon her online, IS-aligned friends “for support”, allowing them to radicalise her.

“She said ‘I can’t recall reciting the pledge (of allegiance to IS) or what I was thinking, but that’s my voice on the tape’,” she said.

“She has consistently denied being a believer in the views of IS.”

Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif. Picture: Nine News

She conceded the interviews were “difficult and challenging” due not only to “language and cultural” barriers but also Abdirahman-Khalif’s “reticence” at sharing personal information.

“She continued to present as somewhat dismissive and evasive in a manner consistent with her documented conversations with members of the Australian Federal Police,” she said.

Dr Lim said she believed Abdirahman-Khalif was the victim of online grooming.

“(The online communications) were consistent with what a perpetrator would do when trying to make someone susceptible to a particular act … I doubt that (those online) had just friendship in mind,” she said.

“I was of the impression that she felt connected to a social group and that, in order to continue fitting in, she would have to accept its views.

“Whether she actually believed those views, I don’t have an opinion on that.”

Chris Winneke QC, prosecuting, suggested Dr Lim lacked an opinion because she had been unable to get Abdirahman-Khalif “to open up”.

“In other words, the explanations she gave you were the same ones she gave the AFP at the airport,” he said.

“What efforts did you make to find out how she had become radicalised?”

Dr Lim conceded she had only read material provided to her by defence counsel, and had viewed neither the transcript of the trial nor any of the evidence tendered.

She further conceded she did not know Abdirahman-Khalif had used an image of an AK-47 rifle as her online profile photo.

Mr Boucaut said his client would not be giving evidence, that she had lodged an appeal against her conviction and would not be making a public renunciation of IS.

“Her view is ‘what is there to renounce if I’m not a member?’,” he said.

“She denies, and adheres to her denial, of supporting violent jihad.”

He said his client had endured great difficulty in custody, including abuse, with “virtually no religious support” — but added the SA Somali community would “accept her back” upon release.

“They want to guide her and make sure nothing like this will ever happen again,” he said.

“Your Honour should fashion a custodial sentence that sees her released from custody as soon as possible.”

Mr Winneke said there could be no guarantee Abdirahman-Khalif had given up Islamic State’s views because she would not admit she had ever held them.

“The nature and history of the organisation she joined is what makes the offence serious … IS is one of the most dangerous terrorist organisations that the world has known,” he said.

He said the maximum penalty for the offence was 10 years, that Commonwealth law required Abdirahman-Khalif serve 3/4 of that period before becoming eligible for parole.

Only immediate imprisonment was appropriate for her offending, he said, adding there should be no leniency extended simply because Abdirahman-Khalif was not a combatant.

“In terms of the distinction between a civilian member and a martial member, it takes all sorts to put a (terrorist) venture in place,” he said.

“If there is a distinction, there’s not a great distinction.”

Justice Peek remanded her in custody for sentencing on a date to be set.

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