Former terror suspect Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif is no longer a flight risk, her lawyer has argued in the Federal Court
A former terror suspect is no longer a risk of fleeing the country, her lawyer said as he asked the Federal Court not to impose restrictive controls over the 25-year-old’s movement and communications.
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The risk a former terror suspect would try to travel overseas has greatly diminished and she is no risk to society regardless, the Federal Court has heard.
In the second day of a hearing, Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif’s barrister outlined why she should not be subjected to highly restrictive control orders.
The 25-year-old was found guilty of being a member of the terrorist organisation last year, but had the conviction overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court.
She spent 891 days in jail before being released into the community.
But within weeks of her release the Federal Government applied to have her placed on a control order, which would restrict her movements and communication.
Ms Abdirahman-Khalif had tried to leave the country with a one-way ticket to Turkey and not enough money to return in July 2016.
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During her terrorism trial it was alleged she had planned to cross the Turkish border into Syria in order to join the Islamic State Caliphate.
The jury also heard she had downloaded more than 1500 images and 127 videos of Islamic State propaganda, which included executions.
Police contested she had been communicating with three women in Mombasa, Kenya and had prior knowledge of a terrorist attack on a police station during which all three women were killed.
On Tuesday, Scott Henchliffe SC, for Ms Abdirahman-Khalif, said the global situation in 2016 and 2017 when his client was looking to travel overseas was markedly different to the current climate.
“The events and circumstances which existed in 2016 and ’17 no longer exist,” he said.
Mr Henchliffe said any concerns about his client trying to join the Islamic State caliphate were eased by the knowledge it no longer existed.
“My submission is that this is far from the typical case which would show training or direct membership or involvement with a terrorist organisation,” he said.
Justice Natalie Charlesworth voiced concerns about the nature of the controls she has been asked to place on Ms Abdirahman-Khalif.
“There is a risk that there is arbitrariness about the specific control orders, such as one cannot have access to a heavy vehicle but can have access to a car, or that one cannot have access to explosives but can have access to sharp objects,” she said during the hearing.
“The nature of terrorism and the way attacks have been conducted with the most banal domestic items does raise issues of proportionality.
“It’s quit a difficult analysis for a court to make.”
She reserved her decision.