Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif, who was found guilty of attempting to join Islamic State, released from prison having served full sentence

A former nursing student convicted of trying to join the Islamic State terror group has been released from prison – and will be subject to stringent controls in the community.

An Adelaide woman who was convicted, then acquitted, then re-convicted of attempting to join the Islamic State terrorist group has been released from prison.

The Advertiser can reveal former nursing student Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif left the Adelaide Women’s Prison on Thursday, having served her full three-year sentence.

The 26-year-old was taken back into custody in October 2020, when her historic acquittal was overturned by the High Court of Australia, and served a further 205 days in custody.

Although she was legally entitled to seek release on parole immediately – based on the 891 days served prior to her acquittal in October 2019 – she remained behind bars until Thursday.

Under federal law, persons convicted of terrorism offences may only be released on parole at the discretion of the federal Attorney-General.

The Advertiser can reveal neither former Attorney-General Christian Porter nor his successor, Michaelia Cash, had completed consideration of Abdirahman-Khalif’s parole bid.

Despite repeated applications by and emails from her legal counsel, the Attorney-General’s Office said it had not, and would be unable to, make a decision prior to Thursday.

However, in the lead-up to Abdirahman-Khalif’s scheduled release, prosecutors sought to re-establish Federal Court control orders limiting her movements and associations.

Defence counsel anticipate those orders – currently only of interim length – will be formally confirmed by the court at a hearing next month.

If confirmed, the orders will control Abdirahman-Khalif’s life for the following 12 months, and prosecutors can have them renewed by making a new application after that time.

There is no limit to how many times control orders can be “refreshed”, so long as the court accepts the person to whom they relate remains a potential risk to the public.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Senator Cash said there was “no ability to extend” the sentence.

Abdirahman-Khalif is arrested in May 2017.

HISTORY OF A TERRORISM CASE

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

Prosecutors alleged she had IS propaganda videos, including beheadings, on her phone and sent a text saying it was her “destiny” to be a “Muwahideen” in Adelaide.

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

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

Her counsel refuted the allegations, telling jurors they must not be swayed by mere suspicion nor “overawed” by the “spin” put upon the evidence by Federal authorities

Abdirahman-Khalif was found guilty by a jury following trial.

Abdirahman-Khalif was found guilty and, in April 2019, sentenced to a minimum of two years and three months behind bars.

However, due to the time she had already served waiting for her trial, she was eligible to seek release on parole from August 2019.

While in custody, Abdirahman-Khalif was denied placement in a prison-based anti-deradicalisation program because of the Federal Government.

At the time, Mr Porter blocked both it and her parole bid, saying there was “no evidence” she had “satisfactorily disengaged from extremist ideology”.

Abdirahman-Khalif’s family and community stepped in at that stage, providing anti-radicalisation assistance through pastoral care.

Abdirahman Khalif, in purple, leaves court following her acquittal. Picture: Roy Vandervegt.

She subsequently filed an appeal against her conviction citing allegations of judicial “imbalance”.

Abdirahman-Khalif claimed Justice David Peek erred in his directions to jurors and did not address possible “innocent explanations” for her behaviour.

It was not her first complaint against Justice Peek – his opening address to the jury pool was labelled “inaccurate and unduly gruesome” by her counsel.

In October 2019 – 891 days after her arrest – the Court of Criminal Appeal overturned the jury’s verdict and ordered Abdirahman-Khalif be acquitted.

Two of the judges agreed Federal law’s definition of “membership” was too broad, while Justice Trish Kelly dissented, saying her colleagues had “oversimplified” the matter.

Abdirahman-Khalif was rearrested at her home in October 2020.

The government responded across two jurisdictions, filing a High Court challenge to the acquittal and starting proceedings in the Federal Court.

It sought, and successfully obtained, control orders limiting Abdirahman-Khalif’s movements and employment opportunities due to her connection with IS and its fighters.

It argued, and the court agreed, she was obsessed with violence, naive in the extreme, determined to marry an IS fighter and too mentally weak to resist the group’s orders.

In October 2020, the High Court overturned Abdirahman-Khalif’s acquittal, reinstated her conviction and reactivated her prison term.