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The girlfriend and ISIS widow of Australia’s top Islamic State terrorist was granted bail in court this morning after spending the night in police cells in the central western town of Wagga Wagga on Thursday.
Mariam Raad, 31, was granted after appearing via audiovisual link from Wagga’s cells at Griffith Circuit Bail Court, after being arrested at a home in the fruit-growing city of Orange.
The 31-year-old woman applied for bail based on “exceptional circumstances”, telling the court that she and her children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder due to her time in Syria.
She spent the night in Wagga’s cells across from a noisy country pub after police failed to arrive at her Wagga in time on Thursday to appear before a registrar on charges of knowingly joining her Islamic State-in-Syria activist husband.
Ms Raad was housed in cells directly across the road from Wagga’s popular Romano’s Hotel, which played music and the sound of revelry until well after midnight.
Just ten weeks ago, Ms Raad was repatriated to Australia from a refugee camp in north-east Syria with three other ISIS girlfriends and 13 children.
She is the mother of four children with Sydney maths teacher turned Islamic State militant Muhammad Zahab, a top terrorist recruiter and the most senior figure in Australia’s Islamic State, who was killed in a targeted airstrike in Syria in 2018.
Ms Raad was arrested after police raids in both Young and Parklea, Western Sydney, the home of her sister-in-law and ISIS girlfriend Mariam Dabboussy.
Mariam Raad (right, with her IS terrorist husband who was killed in Syria in 2018) spent the night in police cells outside a rowdy pub in country New South Wales.
Mariam Raad was inside Wagga police cells (above) on Friday morning, where she had spent the night waiting to appear via AVL to apply for bail.
The mother of two sons between the ages of 10 and 12 and two Syrian-born daughters, is accused of entering and remaining in Syria under the control of the Islamic State terrorist organization.
Police allege that Ms Raad traveled to Syria in early 2014 to meet with Muhammad Zahab, who had left Australia in 2013 to join the fight for Islamic State.
Zahab lured dozens of family members, including Dabboussy’s husband, Kaled Zahab, and her parents, Hicham and Aminah, to Syria before Kaled’s 2015 death and then her own.
Hicham Zahab is in jail in Syria and his wife Aminah is among three other cohorts of 41 ISIS Australian wives, widows and children who hope in the near future to leave Syrian camps and board planes home.
Police allege that Ms. Raad knew of her husband’s activities with the Islamic State and of her own free will joined him and lived with him in the city of Raqqa until his death, after which she was taken to two different DP camps where other Australian ISIS girlfriends lived. .
Mariam Raad was held in cells just opposite the Romano’s Hotel, which played music and merriment until 1am, after police took her to Wagga police station too late for a hearing on Thursday afternoon.
Mariam Raad, 31, has been charged with allegedly leaving Australian shores to fight for Islamic State months after being rescued from a refugee camp.
Police will allege that Ms Raad traveled to Syria in early 2014 to join her husband Muhammed, who left Australia in 2013 to join the fight for Islamic State.
Muhammad Zahab (pictured) was a prolific recruiter for Islamic State who lured dozens of his family members to Syria before he was killed in a targeted airstrike in 2018.
Ms Raad was one of 17 women and children rescued from Syria and resettled in Australia last October after police deemed them to pose no threat to the nation.
Ms Raad was arrested following a joint investigation by the Australian Federal Police and the New South Wales Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT).
In a statement, the JCTT said “newly obtained evidence” had led to Ms. Raaad being charged.
AFP’s acting deputy commissioner against terrorism and Special Investigations Command, Sandra Booth, said Australians returning from declared conflict areas will be investigated to ensure the safety of the public.
“Individuals will be brought to court when evidence supports allegations that returned persons have committed crimes in conflict areas,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Booth said.
“The JCTT will continue to target (alleged) criminal activities and does not target specific ideologies or beliefs.”
NSW Police Commander Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton said the NSW JCTT will continue to protect the community from those they believe pose a threat.
Ms Raad will face the local Wagga Wagga court on Friday. If she is found guilty, she could spend up to 10 years behind bars.
“We have zero tolerance for Australians, or anyone, seeking to commit acts of violence or extremism, and those considering doing the wrong thing will be on our notice,” Deputy Commissioner Walton said.
“Our investigators methodically collect information and evidence, conduct surveillance and work tirelessly to detect criminal activity that poses a threat to the Australian community.”
Ms Raad will face the local Wagga Wagga court on Friday.
If convicted, she could spend up to 10 years behind bars.
Ms. Raad spent more than three years in detention in the al-Hol and al-Roj camps before being repatriated to Sydney.
The mother-of-four previously told The Australian while in a refugee camp that she posed no threat to Australians (pictured: al roj camp in north-east Syria)
The mother of four previously recounted the aussie while in a refugee camp she was ready to go home.
“I want to go back (to Australia),” Raad said.
‘I want my children to have the opportunity for a real future.
‘I’m stressed. It is not easy being a single mother with four children in a camp. The children are growing up and I go to bed every night imagining that they will be taken from me.’
The returnee women’s group released a statement in October after landing in Australia.
“We stand ready to do whatever is asked of us by government authorities to ensure the safety of our families and the Australian community and we will fully cooperate with all Australian law enforcement agencies,” the women said.
Another 43 women and children are still in the Syrian refugee camp and hope to be repatriated to Australia sometime this year.