An Adelaide woman accused of being a member of terror group Islamic State (ISIS) told police she was travelling overseas to work for an aid organisation, a court has heard according to 9news.com.
The trial of Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif, 23, continued in the South Australian Supreme Court today, after she earlier pleaded not guilty to membership of a terrorist organisation.
The jury was played an interview recorded hours after Ms Abdirahman-Khalif was detained at Adelaide Airport in July 2016, as she tried to fly to Istanbul.
During the interview, she told federal police officers she was travelling to Turkey for a holiday and “to see if there’s any aid organisations” that she could work with.
She was carrying only hand luggage and less than $200 in cash, but said she expected the organisation would cover living expenses and the cost of a flight home.
The court heard she had not told her family she was leaving, and they thought the nursing student was at university when she was detained.
She maintained she did not know anyone in Turkey, Syria or Iraq, and told police she and used Centrelink payments and a book allowance to help cover the cost of her one-way plane ticket.
When asked by police officers what she knew about terror group ISIS, she said she knew they kill people.
Ms Abdirahman-Khalifa was not charged after the interview and was released early the next morning.
Commonwealth prosecutor Chris Winneke QC said she took part in another interview with Australian Federal Police officers in early 2017.
She again denied any involvement with the terror group.
“She said it was rubbish that she was a member of IS and that there was no reason she had her citizenship certificate with her when she attempted to travel,” Mr Winneke said.
In opening the trial yesterday, the prosecutor said the Crown would argue that Ms Abdirahman-Khalifa was travelling to Turkey to make contact with ISIS.
“(She was going to) commence to live in territory held by Islamic State as a member of that society and as a follower of the leader of that organisation,” he said.
The court also heard she knew about a deadly knife and petrol bomb attack on a police station in Kenya before it occurred in 2016.
The trial continues before Justice David Peek.
