Hallam woman Hadashah Sa’adat Khan faces court for allegedly recruiting for Islamic State
A young Hallam woman accused of recruiting members for evil terror group Islamic State remains behind bars.
South East
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The FBI will be called to give evidence against a young Melbourne woman who is accused of helping the deadly terrorist organisation Islamic State.
Hadashah Sa’adat Khan, 23, fronted Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, facing charges including recruiting for and associating with Islamic State.
The Hallam woman appeared for the committal hearing via videolink from Dame Phyllis Frost Correctional Centre, wearing a hijab.
The court heard Sa’adat Khan had been incarcerated since February 2020 after she was arrested back in 2018 for crimes allegedly committed in 2015 and 2016.
It was heard Sa’adat Khan had recently been granted bail, but was being held in custody while the Crown appealed the move, with the Supreme Court to deliver a decision at the end of the month.
The court heard Sa’adat Khan had been arrested by Australian Federal Police after the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation allegedly contacted Victoria Police to flag concerning online accounts said to be linked to Sa’adat Khan.
The Crown told the court they would be calling an FBI agent and a US civilian to give evidence at the next stage of the hearing, in addition to the two AFP officers who gave evidence on Wednesday.
Police seized an Acer laptop, two phones and an iPod touch from Khan’s home on January 23, 2018, the court heard.
It was heard another phone — an iPhone X — was seized by police in 2020.
An AFP digital forensic examiner told the court he had analysed chat records on a Tumblr application.
The court heard police had also gathered evidence from the ‘Notes’ application on the phones as well as from Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp applications and websites.
Charge sheets released by the court allege Sa’adat Khan intentionally associated with a person who promotes or directs Islamic State activities multiple times between February 24 and March 28, 2015.
It is further alleged she intentionally recruited a person to join or participate in Islamic State activities and performed a service for a person, body or association connected with Islamic State who intended to engage in hostile activity in a foreign country between June 15 and 21, 2016.
The committal hearing will continue on June 23.
