Moutia Elzahed loses appeal against conviction for refusing to stand

A terrorist recruiter’s wife has lost her fight to appeal a conviction for refusing to stand for a judge.

A terrorist recruiter’s wife has lost her appeal against a conviction for refusing to stand for a judge.

Last July Moutia Elzahed was ordered to do 75 hours of community service after becoming the first person in NSW to be found guilty and sentenced for the offence.

The 51-year-old Muslim woman, who regularly gives the Islamic State one-finger salute outside court, argued she had a legitimate cultural reason for her behaviour and the conviction blocks her freedom of political expression.

Moutia Elzahed pictured with her face covered was sentenced for 72 hours community service. Picture: Monique Harmer

Elzahed’s lawyer said she remained seated for her religious beliefs, despite the original judge finding no evidence that the teachings of Islam compel such conduct.

But Supreme Court Justice Ian Harrison dismissed all of this on Friday, and adjourned her sentence appeal to a later date.

. Moutia Elzahed is the wife of a convicted Islamic State recruiter. Picture: Monique Harmer)

“Her Honour’s finding that the plaintiff’s failure to stand was disrespectful was made in the absence of any evidence that the plaintiff’s reason for not standing was religious,” he said.

“Her refusal to stand was not a political communication.”

Elzahed, who’s married to jailed IS extremist Hamdi Alqudsi, was in May 2018 found guilty of nine counts of disrespectful behaviour in court.

Magistrate Carolyn Huntsman found Elzahed had repeatedly and intentionally flouted the court protocol in 2016 when she failed to rise for District Court Judge Audrey Balla, insisting she only stood for Allah.

Elzahed defiantly remained seated with arms crossed as magistrate Huntsman delivered the landmark decision.

In 2016, Elzahed had been trying to sue the state and federal governments on claims of police violence and wrongful imprisonment over a raid on her Sydney home two years earlier. She was ultimately unsuccessful.

Justice Ian Harrison on Friday rejected all of Elzahed’s arguments against her conviction, including that the failure to stand was not proved beyond reasonable doubt to be disrespectful and there was no legal duty to rise.

Moutia Elzahed lost her appeal against the conviction. Picture: Monique Harmer)

Justice Harrison also said the contention that Elzahed was simply unaware of the established court convention bears no relevance.

‘The religious explanation for the plaintiff not standing is wholly consistent with her having made an intentional decision to remain seated, which is an essential element of the offence,” he said.

“The question of an explanation may be of relevance in the plaintiff’s challenge to her sentence but is not in my opinion … of any significance on the question of her conviction.”

Justice Harrison also found that the prosecution did indeed have valid legal authorisation from the Attorney-General to charge Elzahed in the first place.