ISIS-linked mother Kawsar Ahmad expected to walk free on bail

An ISIS-linked grandmother facing a string of slavery allegations will be reunited with her family as she is set to walk free on bail following a court fight.

Kawsar Ahmad, also known as Kawsar Abbas, was arrested and charged with slavery offences after she touched down in Melbourne last month.

The 54-year-old is accused of being “complicit” in the purchase of a female slave for $US10,000 in about June 2017, and allegedly exercising control over the woman in conditions akin to slavery in Ms Ahmad’s family home in the Deir ez-Zur province of Syria the following year.

She has been charged with four crimes against humanity offences of enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave and engaging in slave trading.

Ms Ahmad will walk free on bail after her lawyers successfully argued the grandmother is “fair dinkum” and wants to “behave” during a bail application in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

“She wishes to practice her religion at home in peace,” her lawyer Peter Morrissey SC previously told the court.

“She’s fair dinkum. She wants to behave … she is game for any restriction to be in place and she would like to show she is worthy of the trust (of bail).”

Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan proposed to grant Ms Ahmad bail on Friday afternoon, telling the court the risk of terrorism should she be released is “low” based on the evidence before her.

“In my view, as I said, even a low risk of terrorism would likely be unacceptable, but having regard to all matters ... particularly the evidence of (the psychiatrist) ... on the evidence before me, the risk is so low,” Ms Hannan said.

“I propose to grant bail.”

Ms Ahmad will be formally read her strict bail conditions later on Friday afternoon, which are set to order she hand over her passport, not leave the country, and not attend any mosque upon her release among other restrictions.

Her brother has also put up a $75,000 surety.

Grandmother claims she ‘hates’ terror group: court

Ms Ahmad said she “is not a supporter of IS, she does not have anything to do with IS, she hates them regardless” in a renunciation of the terror group previously read to the court by her legal team.

Ms Hannan on Friday said while the 54-year-old’s words don’t carry sufficient weight on their own, they carry more weight when combined with the evidence of an expert forensic psychiatrist who did not find any blatant indication that Ms Ahmad holds any lingering beliefs of extremism during an assessment.

The psychiatrist said Ms Ahmad does not currently demonstrate any of the proximal warning behaviours under the terrorist radicalisation assessment, and that there is no evidence to suggest she is not part of the approximately 98 per cent of people who will not reoffend.

Ms Ahmad has not yet entered pleas to the four slavery allegations made against her.

The prosecution had argued Ms Ahmad had demonstrated support for ISIS and submitted there was an unacceptable risk to the community’s safety should she be released on bail.

They relied on a series of Facebook posts and statements made by Ms Ahmad dating back to 2016, however Ms Hannan was not satisfied they constituted supporting a terrorist act under the legislation. Ms Ahmad’s team had argued that any risks can be ameliorated by a set of bail conditions, and pointed to a series of mental health conditions Ms Ahmad suffers from which she would be able to seek treatment for in the community.

More to come