Two women linked to Islamic State have been arrested and charged with slavery offences hours after returning to Australia from a Syrian refugee camp. They are now seeking release into the community while awaiting trial.
Bail Application Scheduled
Kawsar Ahmad, 53, and Zeinab Ahmad, 31, will apply for bail on Monday in Melbourne Magistrates Court. They appeared briefly in court on Friday and were remanded in custody.
The duo were part of a larger group of women and children who returned to Australia on Thursday amid chaotic scenes at the airport, after spending years in a Syrian refugee camp.
Charges Against the Women
Both women have been charged with several crimes against humanity and slavery offences allegedly committed in Syria. Detectives allege that Kawsar Ahmad, also known as Abbas, travelled to the region with her husband and children in 2014.
Police claim she was complicit in buying a female slave for $10,000 US and knowingly kept the woman in her home. She has been charged with enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave, and slave trading.
Court documents allege that between June 2017 and November 2018, Kawsar Ahmad enslaved, possessed, and used the slave in various locations in the Deir ez-Zu province of Syria, including Mayadin, Hajin, Gharanji, Bahra, Abu Hamam, and Walaa.
Zeinab Ahmad is alleged to have knowingly kept a female slave in her Syrian home. She has been charged with enslavement and using a slave over the same period. The charge sheet states that their conduct was 'committed intentionally or knowingly as part of a widespread or systemic attack directed against a civil population'.
Background and Investigation
Police said the pair were detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and held with other family members in the Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp. They are among three returnees charged following an almost decade-long investigation, which began after the women travelled to the Middle East with their partners, who allegedly intended to fight for Islamic State.
A third woman, 32-year-old Janai Safar, who flew into Sydney, was arrested and charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation. She was denied bail due to the seriousness of the charges and will return to court in July.
