A woman linked to ISIS and accused of slavery offences in Syria is seeking bail, with new details emerging in a Melbourne court about her family's alleged activities. Zeinab Ahmad, 31, appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday as her legal team argued for her release into the community.
Australian Federal Police Detective Senior Constable Marc Clendenning testified that the AFP began investigating the Ahmad family's offshore activities in November 2017. He told the court that family members, including Ahmad's husband, parents, siblings, and several children, began leaving Melbourne in May 2013, claiming on outgoing passenger cards that they were heading to Turkey. By January 2015, the group had settled in Syria as a single family unit.
Family Members Killed in Syria
Constable Clendenning revealed that two of Ahmad's brothers are believed to have been killed in 2016 and 2017, while her husband is thought to have died in May 2016. The court heard that the Islamic State caliphate was announced in June 2014, followed by a coordinated attack in northern Iraq in August 2014 targeting the Yazidi minority. About 6,800 Yazidi women and children were captured, with many still missing. The officer stated that ISIS endorsed the rape, killing, and enslavement of Yazidis and maintained detailed records of slaves.
Charges Against Zeinab Ahmad
Ahmad faces two charges of enslavement and using a slave, relating to a Yazidi woman allegedly held as a slave in the family's home in Deir ez-Zur province between June 2017 and November 2018. The offence is said to have been committed as part of a widespread attack against the Yazidi community. Prosecutors oppose bail, arguing Ahmad poses an unacceptable risk and has made statements supporting terrorist acts.
Ahmad was arrested on May 7 alongside her mother, Kawsar Ahmad, 54, also known as Kawsar Abbas, after arriving at Melbourne Airport from a refugee camp for ISIS-linked families in northern Syria. Kawsar Ahmad faces four charges of crimes against humanity, including enslavement and slave trading. She is expected to apply for bail on June 16. The AFP alleges the women traveled to Syria in 2014 and were detained by Kurdish forces at Al Roj camp from 2019 until this year. It is claimed Kawsar Ahmad was complicit in purchasing a female slave for $10,000 in June 2017, with both mother and daughter controlling the woman until November 2018. The hearing continues.
