Two ISIS brides to make bid for freedom on slavery charges

Two Islamic State-linked women will ask to be released back into the community at a bail hearing on Monday after appearing in court charged with slavery offences.

Grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, and daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, were among four women and nine children who arrived in Australia on Thursday night after spending years in a refugee camp in north-east Syria.

The Australian Federal Police announced on Friday morning the pair were charged with enslavement, and using a slave. Abbas, also known as Kawsar Ahmed, was also charged with possessing a slave and engaging in slave trading.

“It will be alleged the woman [Abbas] travelled to Syria in 2014 with her husband and children, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for $US10,000 ($13,875) and knowingly kept the woman in the home,” the AFP said in a statement.

The offences – considered “crimes against humanity” – each carry a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment.

Abbas was represented on Friday by high-profile lawyer Bill Doogue, who last year defended killer mushroom cook Erin Patterson.

She smiled briefly at a group of supporters in the packed courtroom as she walked into the dock.

The prosecutor told chief magistrate Lisa Hannan that at least three hours were needed for the bail hearing, where the Crown will push for Abbas and Ahmad to be remanded.

“It will take at least an hour, hour and a half, to read the summary, your honour,” he said.

The court heard the Commonwealth attorney-general had authorised the unusual charges against the pair.

Ahmad was expressionless as she walked into the dock, with lawyer Maya George indicating she would also make a bid for freedom on Monday.

Commonwealth prosecutors also indicated they would apply for a suppression order to protect the identities of the alleged Yazidi slave victims.

The accused mother and daughter arrived from Syria, where they had been living in the al-Roj refugee camp for seven years after leaving Australia to join their partners, who were involved with Islamic State. They were detained in the camp by Kurdish forces in March 2019, the AFP said.

Abbas travelled to Syria with Zeinab and her other daughter, Zahra, to join her husband and the daughters’ father, Muhammad Ahmed.

The fourth woman who returned to Australia was not arrested. The children will be placed into anti-radicalisation programs and given psychological support as they begin a new life in Australia after spending most of their lives in war zones and decrepit camps.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said the investigation was active and involved “very serious allegations”.

Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Martin O’Brien said the safety of all Victorians remains paramount.

“Victoria Police will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners and other agencies to ensure there is no risk to our local community,” he said.

“We want to reassure all Victorians that anyone residing in our state who has committed serious criminal offences, including those returning from conflict areas, will be held to account.”

The women’s return has been the subject of a heated political debate, with the government insisting it had no role in their repatriation and that it could do little to intervene as the women were Australian citizens.

“It has always been the position of this government that we have not assisted the return of any of these people,” Labor senator Tim Ayres told Nine’s Today. “[There are] very strongly held views in the government that they should not have gone in the first place.”

Nationals leader Matt Canavan said on Friday morning that the government should have accessed special powers to deny the women entry.

“We offered to give the government more powers that were rejected,” he told ABC Radio National.

“I think what’s really important now is that the prime minister come out today and explain how this has helped … and he should explain to Australian people how he’s keeping them safe.”

Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume, appearing on Seven’s Sunrise, echoed Canavan’s comments that the government should have done more to deny passports or issue temporary protection orders.

She raised the case of a young Yazidi woman now living in Australia who was one of the children enslaved by Islamic State families.

“The trauma this woman has gone through is unimaginable. And now people just like her captors have been invited back to Australia.”

With Brittany Busch

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