South Australian woman found guilty of being an IS member

An Adelaide woman has been found to be a member of the Islamic State terror group, following a trial in the Supreme Court.

The 23-year-old South Australian has been found guilty of terror charge.

The 23-year-old South Australian has been found guilty of terror charge. Source: SBS News

An Adelaide woman has been found guilty of membership of the Islamic State terror group.

A Supreme Court jury returned the verdict against 23-year-old Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif on Monday after three hours of deliberations.

The court previously heard Abdirahman-Khalif was stopped by police at Adelaide Airport after she tried to board a plane to Istanbul in July 2016.

Carrying only hand luggage and less than $200 in cash, she told officers she intended to work for an aid organisation and expected her living expenses and the cost of a flight home would be covered.

The Adelaide Supreme Court.
The Adelaide Supreme Court. Source: AAP


Abdirahman-Khalif was later released, but arrested at the Port Adelaide TAFE SA campus in May 2017, following a year-long investigation.

In evidence, a counter-terrorism police officer said 127 video files of "investigative relevance" were found on her phone, and the jury was played a compilation of violent scenes.

The court also heard she had been in communication with three young women and knew about their deadly terror attack on a police station in Kenya before it occurred.

In his closing, prosecutor Chris Winneke QC said Abdirahman-Khalif had "wholly embraced the concepts and aligned herself with the ideology of the Islamic State".

He said she had gone a step further by taking action to become a member of the group.

"She set off to go to Turkey, to engage with terrorists in the view of lending her support to Islamic State," he said

"In doing so, she became a member of Islamic State."

Abdirahman-Khalif was remanded in custody to reappear before the court in October.


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South Australian woman found guilty of being an IS member | SBS News