After failing to persuade a judge that she should be reunited with her nine-year-old son, a newly repatriated “ISIS bride” will be incarcerated in a Sydney jail.
Almost two weeks after departing the Al-Roj prison camp in northeastern Syria, four women connected to ISIS fighters arrived in Australia on Thursday night, including Janai Safar.
Shortly after landing at Sydney Airport, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officials removed Safar and her son from the aircraft.
Video of the 32-year-old in the backseat of an AFP car arriving at the adjacent Mascot police station at around 7 p.m. showed her looking stony-faced.
The NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team subsequently accused her of being a member of a terrorist organization and of entering and staying in a declared combat zone.
The maximum sentence for each offence is ten years in prison.
When Safar appeared in online bail court on Friday afternoon, Judge Daniel Covington rejected her request for release while she was dressed in a green tracksuit and a white headscarf.
Barrister Michael Ainsworth had attempted to prove that Safar’s circumstances constituted the necessary “exceptional circumstances” in order to secure her parole.
Janai Safar (above), a recently returned “ISIS bride,” will stay incarcerated in a Sydney jail after a court determined that there were no “exceptional circumstances” to release her.
Janai Safar (above) was accused of being a member of a terrorist organization and of going into or staying in designated areas.
According to Mr. Ainsworth, Safar was 21 when she travelled to Syria, and there were concerns regarding her level of Islamic State involvement.
It’s possible that she was forced to participate or that she was afraid of others who had deeper ties to the terrorist group.
Mr. Ainsworth added that if Safar stayed behind bars, she wouldn’t be able to assist her son in reintegrating into Australian society.
Mr. Ainsworth stated, “Having spent his entire life under guard in a refugee camp, she’s the only family he knows.”
“This woman and her son are obviously suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological conditions because they have lived in these refugee camps for many years in absolutely appalling conditions.”
Mr. Ainsworth said that Safar’s pre-existing medical issues had been made worse by the unhygienic conditions and inadequate food in refugee camps.
He informed Judge Covington, “She’s been in a situation that is in itself custodial in another country.”
According to Mr. Ainsworth, Safar’s alleged crimes essentially came to a stop in early 2017 when she fled Razza in northern Syria and was held in a number of camps for refugees.
Grandmother Kawsar Abbas was remanded in custody after appearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday morning on charges of four crimes against humanity. A court drawing depicts her.
Zeinab Ahmed was remanded in custody after facing two charges of slavery in Melbourne Magistrates Court. A court drawing depicts her.
Mr. Ainsworth informed the court that Safar could not be regarded as a party to any disagreement after that.
According to Brian Massone of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Safar’s personal circumstances were not as significant as the nature and gravity of the accusations she was facing.
He acknowledged that Safar had been living in “quite horrible” circumstances and did not dispute the importance of the mother-child bond.
Safar, according to Mr. Massone, departed Australia in a “premeditated and considered fashion” in order to join a group that propagated “misery, destruction, and discord throughout the world.”
“That organization is, of course, the so-called Islamic State,” Mr. Massone stated in court.
According to Mr. Massone, Safar not only travelled to an area under Islamic State control, but he also decided to stay there with the intention of joining ISIS.
“She was either actively pursuing membership or was already a member,” he stated.
According to Mr. Massone, the Crown’s case against Safar was “very strong” and will be based on messages she sent to her mother indicating her intention to join ISIS.
There are “naked women on the street” in Australia, according to Janai Safar (above), who earlier pledged never to go back. She might spend ten years behind bars.
After taking into account the arguments made by the Crown and the defence, Judge Covington concluded that there were no extraordinary circumstances to approve Safar’s request for release.
According to police, Safar went to Syria in 2015 to accompany her husband, who had previously left Australia to join ISIS.
According to documents obtained by Nine tabloids, she went back home to complete her nursing degree and for the sake of her son.
Safar claimed that her son was her top priority and that she had come back to Australia to make sure he was educated and assimilated.
She has severe kidney difficulties, stomach and urine problems, and nervousness.
In 2015, Safar left Sydney, where she was a nursing student, ostensibly to visit family in Lebanon before heading to Turkey.
Safar married an Australian who had travelled to the Middle East to fight for the Islamic State, but it is unclear how she got to Syria. In 2018, he was killed in a car accident.
Safar states that while residing in Islamic State territory, she was constantly watched by handlers, was unable to express herself freely, and felt “vulnerable and alone.”
After arriving in Sydney from Syria, the 32-year-old (right) was driven from the airport to the Mascot Police Station.
In contrast, Safar stated in 2019 that she had no plans to return home and that she did not regret living under the Islamic State.
“It was my decision to come here to go away from where women are naked on the street,” Safar told The Australian in 2019. She also promised to raise her kid in a non-Islamist nation out of fear that he may be taken away from her if she ever returned to Australia.
“I don’t regret travelling to Syria, but I don’t want my son to grow up around that.” I have no regrets about living under the Islamic State.
While her son is staying with his grandfather, Safar was sent to Silverwater Women’s Correctional Centre in Sydney’s west.
Grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, landed in Melbourne on Thursday night with her eight children and daughters, Zeinab Ahmed, 31, and Zahra Ahmad, 33.
Before Abbas and Zeinab were taken into custody by AFP officers and charged on Friday morning, they were detained at customs for several hours.
On Thursday night, men protect Zahra Ahmad from the media as she departs Melbourne Airport.
Abbas was accused of four crimes against humanity, including participation in the slave trade and owning and employing slaves.
The maximum punishment for these offences is 25 years in prison.
According to police, Abbas flew to Syria in 2014 with her husband and kids, participated in the US$10,000 purchase of a female slave, and purposefully kept the lady in her house.
Zeinab is accused of two acts of slavery. The maximum sentence for both charges is 25 years in prison. In 2014, she allegedly flew to Syria with her family and intentionally housed a female slave.
Zahra Ahmad left Melbourne Airport on a shuttle vehicle, free to move around and protected from the media by a huge group of black-clad guys.
Zeinab and Abbas appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday morning. They were remanded in custody until Monday, at which point they will both apply for release.
Investigations into the group are still underway, according to the AFP. Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt told reporters in Canberra on Thursday night, “This remains an active investigation into very serious allegations.”
Twenty-one Australians are reportedly still at the Al-Roj camp.
On July 15, Safar is scheduled to appear in Downing Centre Local Court.
