Australian Associated Press
Thursday June 17, 2021
Negotiations are continuing to establish a final set of restrictions on the movement and activities of an Adelaide woman recently released from jail after being convicted of being a member of a terrorist group.
But the Federal Court has heard that a hearing is still likely to be required to resolve a number of issues that may be unable to be agreed.
The action against Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif comes after she served the remainder of a three-year jail term following a decision by the High Court to overturn her appeal court acquittal on taking steps to be a member of terror group Islamic State.
At the moment she is subject to an interim control order with authorities seeking to establish a more permanent range of restrictions to remain in place for at least 12 months.
The interim order prevents her from leaving SA, limits her to using one mobile and one computer, provided by the Australian Federal Police and restricts what material she can access on the internet.
It also prevents her from communicating with anyone in Iraq, Turkey or Syria and urges her to consider counselling to help with her spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing.
The court heard on Wednesday that negotiations on a final control order were progressing towards a set of agreed facts.
It was told that by establishing what issues remained, any future hearing on the matter could be limited to a few days rather than a few weeks.
In 2018, Abdirahman-Khalif was found guilty in the SA Supreme Court of being a member of IS and was jailed for three years.
Prosecutors had alleged she had communicated with other members of the group and organised a trip to join IS before she was arrested.
She was first stopped by police at Adelaide Airport while trying to board a plane to Istanbul, Turkey, in July 2016.
The former student told officers she was taking a last-minute holiday, despite having a small amount of clothing, no return flight and less than $200 in funds.
The Somalian refugee was later released but arrested at the Port Adelaide TAFE SA campus in May 2017, following a police investigation.
In sentencing in the SA Supreme Court, Justice David Peek said Abdirahman-Khalif had repeatedly expressed support for IS and jihad by playing chants about martyrdom, infidels, extreme violence, killing and death.
But in a decision last year, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed her conviction and set her free, ruling it was not supported on the evidence.
That decision was subsequently overturned by the High Court in October.
After her initial release from jail, Abdirahman-Khalif was also hit with a wide-ranging control order limiting her movements and her access to the internet.
The case will return to the Federal Court in July for another management conference with a tentative hearing date set in August.