Rayann El Houli Faces Court Over Alleged IS Ties
A 34-year-old mother of four appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday, charged with travelling to a declared conflict zone and joining a terrorist organization.
Rayann El Houli was arrested at her Melbourne home eight months after returning to Australia. She has been charged by the Australian Federal Police with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and joining a terrorist organization, the Islamic State group. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The Charges
According to police allegations, El Houli travelled to Syria between 2013 and 2014 to join Islamic State. She was detained by Kurdish forces in March 2019 and held at the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria. She returned to Australia via Lebanon on September 26, 2023, with her children and another woman.
Court Proceedings
In the Thursday hearing, Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan outlined police allegations that El Houli intentionally travelled to Syria to join IS, married multiple IS members, and expressed views including support for martyrdom and killing non-believers. Police also allege she left Syria only after IS was defeated.
"She renounces Isis and violent jihad. She wants nothing to do with it – not now, not in the future." — Peter Morrissey SC, El Houli's barrister
El Houli's barrister, Peter Morrissey SC, requested an adjournment for the bail application. Morrissey stated on behalf of his client: "She renounces Isis and violent jihad. She wants nothing to do with it – not now, not in the future." He argued that El Houli's return to Australia and her statement evidenced her renunciation. He accepted she had not yet engaged in anti-terrorism programs but said she would participate in any suggested by the prosecution. The defence plans to engage a risk assessment expert.
The prosecution raised concerns about El Houli's risk to the community, citing insufficient evidence that she had renounced IS.
Chief Magistrate Hannan called the alleged views "extremely concerning" and noted the seriousness of the charges. The bail application was adjourned to a date to be fixed, with El Houli remanded in custody. Morrissey stated El Houli suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and that a priority is to return her to her children.
Related Cases
El Houli's arrest follows the return of other women and children from Syrian camps. Seven women and 12 children linked to IS returned from Roj camp two days prior, and four women and nine children returned three weeks before that—three of those women were charged on arrival.
- Janai Safar, 32, of Sydney, was charged in May with similar offenses after returning with her son. She remains in custody after a magistrate refused bail.
- Kawsar Ahmed and her daughter Zeinab Ahmed, 31, were charged in a Melbourne court on May 8 in relation to allegations of purchasing a Yazidi slave in Syria.