ISIS brides to be held to account

Australia must send the strongest possible message that anyone who breaks the law to sympathise or work with terrorists anywhere in the world will face the consequences. The charging by Australian Federal Police of so-called ISIS bride Mariam Raad, who was returned to Australia last year, is a good thing if only for the message it sends to others. Ms Raad was one of 17 women and children repatriated to Australia last October. She has been charged with entering a declared area, believed to be the Syrian city of Raqqa. Since her return, Ms Raad has been living in Young, in south-central NSW, with her four children by maths teacher turned Islamic State recruiter Muhammad Zahab, who rose to become Islamic State’s most senior Australian fighter before being killed in Syria in 2018.

Police allege Ms Raad was aware of her husband’s activities with Islamic State and willingly travelled to the conflict region. It is likely that other members of the group of 17 women and children repatriated last year also will be charged.

Ultimately, it will be for the courts to decide what happens to them. But the public deserves to know the details of what Australian recruits to the war in Syria have done. Like other nations, Australia had little choice but to repatriate its citizens who had been left stranded in refugee camps on the other side of the world. The risks involved, as well as the cost of monitoring those who have been returned, have been acknowledged. Above all, authorities must be vigilant to ensure they are punished for any crimes committed and not allowed to set an example for other would-be terrorist sympathisers to follow.