ISIS Bride Accused of Training With Terror Fighters, Refused Bail a 2nd Time

A woman has been refused bail for a second time over allegations she trained for weeks with ISIS and married two fighters linked to the terror organisation.Janai Samarra Safar was arrested in May after touching down in Australia with a group of women and children who were all returning from a Syrian refugee camp.The 32-year-old is charged with being a member of a terrorist organisation between 2015 and 2019 and remaining in a declared conflict zone in Syria for two years.She has been behind bars for two months after being denied bail due to the seriousness of the charges.Her barrister made a second release bid on Wednesday, citing the psychological impact of the woman’s segregation in detention.Michael Ainsworth said Safar suffered significant psychological injury after spending years in a refugee camp in appalling conditions, which included limited food and pressure to tow the ISIS line.“She needs help to deal now with the ongoing effect of those seven years and some months in those conditions,” he said.The 32-year-old has disavowed the terror group’s ideology, which she was unable to do in Syria because it would put her and her family at risk of retribution from enforcers, Ainsworth added.Safar has an extensive family who would help her recover after years of being “treated like dirt” and seeing things no one should ever have to see, including bombings and corpses, he said.The case against Safar cites a 2019 newspaper article in which she talks about living under ISIS, which Ainsworth suggests misrepresented his client and may not be admissible.But Crown Prosecutor Brian Massone said the veracity of the quotes appeared to be bolstered by texts between Safar and her father, which were consistent with ISIS ideology.“I said my husband has weapons because if I said I didn’t, they would know I am lying,” Safar allegedly texted her father about the article.She surreptitiously travelled to a declared area in Syria, knowing it was linked to an organisation that has carried out some of the worst atrocities in recent history, Massone said.“She married not one, but two fighters associated with Islamic State,” he told the court.Safar is accused of training for three weeks with the terror organisation, with her mother telling authorities she was sent photos of her daughter holding rifles.But her mother had since been diagnosed with dementia and was unlikely to be able to give evidence, the court was told.Massone acknowledged the “wretched conditions” and resulting mental and physical health issues Safar experienced, but he noted expert evidence suggested women in terror organisations had agency.Judge Marguerite Vassall said the prosecution case had some strength and refused to grant bail.She noted evidence that Safar was receiving treatment in custody and had a pending appointment with a psychiatrist.Safar has not entered pleas to the charges and is not required to at this early stage.The 32-year-old, who wore an orange jumpsuit as she dialled into the court from custody, kept a blank face as her second bid for freedom was denied.She is one of several women who have been charged as a result of an almost decade-long investigation that began after the women travelled to the Middle East with their partners, who intended to fight for ISIS.Some of the women travelled willingly, but advocates say others were coerced or only made the journey to ensure their family was not separated.One of the arrested women—Rayann El Houli, 34—is waiting to learn whether she will be granted bail over allegations that she tried to indoctrinate young children with extremist propaganda.Lifeline 13 11 14beyondblue 1300 22 4636By Adelaide Lang in Sydney.