A 32-year-old woman from Young, who was arrested by the Australian Federal Police after returning from Syria in 2022, has entered a guilty plea in Goulburn Local Court.
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Mariam Raad this week appeared before Magistrate R Rabbidge via audio-video link, after her matter was moved from Young Local Court due to her solicitor, as well as the prosecution, being closer to Sydney.
During the appearance Raad's solicitor said her client was entering a plea of guilty to a charge of willingly entering a region controlled by a terrorist group or organisation.
Both the solicitor for the defendant and the prosecution told the Magistrate the statement of facts had been agreed upon.
The matter is now adjourned and will return for sentence at Goulburn Local Court in June.
Raad was arrested in Young in January 2023 after an investigation between the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police.
A property in Young as well as a property in Parklea were both searched by Police after they reported new information had come to light.
If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in jail.
Police alleged at the time of her arrest that Raad travelled to Syria in early 2014 to join her husband who left Australia in 2013 and joined ISIS.
It was also alleged by Police she was aware of her husband's activities with the terror group and willingly travelled to the conflict region.
Raad's husband Muhammad Zahab, a former Sydney maths teacher who rose through the ranks of the terror outfit, is believed to have died in Syria in 2018.
She later moved to Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp in northern Syria under Kurdish control before returning to Australia in October 2022 as part of the Australian government's controversial repatriation plan.
