{"id":54534,"date":"2026-07-20T14:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/54534\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T14:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:09:11","slug":"rayann-el-houli-woman-accused-of-joining-isis-to-be-freed-on-bail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/54534\/","title":{"rendered":"Rayann EL Houli: Woman accused of joining ISIS to be freed on bail"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Melbourne woman accused of joining Islamic State has been barred from communicating with a convicted terror leader, a court has been told. <\/p>\n

Rayann El Houli, 34, was charged in May with being a member of a terrorist organisation and entering a declared conflict area, eight months after returning from Syria with her four children.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege the Melbourne-raised woman travelled to Syria in 2014, then aged 21 or 22, with her husband Allak Hamad to join ISIS. <\/p>\n

She returned before the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday afternoon as magistrate Brett Sonnet granted her bail to live with her family in Melbourne\u2019s north. <\/p>\n

Despite opposition from police, Mr Sonnet found she posed a \u201crelatively low\u201d risk to the community and a number of factors, including her ill health and role as primary carer to four children, justified her release. <\/p>\n

Ms El Houli is expected to be released from custody on Monday evening, and will face strict bail conditions including a curfew, a ban on attending religious venues other than one approved mosque and requirement to attend a countering violent extremism course. <\/p>\n

Also among her bail conditions was a prohibition on contacting convicted Melbourne terror leader Abdul Nacer Benbrika, who was released from prison in 2023 after serving nearly two decades for leading a terror cell preparing to commit an attack. <\/p>\n

At least one member of Ms El Houli\u2019s family has married into Benbrika\u2019s family and police have alleged Ms El Houli had expressed an opinion Benbrika had been \u201cpersecuted\u201d in 2018, the court has previously been told. <\/p>\n

Giving evidence last week, Australian Federal Police senior constable Paul Sherlock said it was alleged communications, sent by Ms El Houli back to her family before the fall of Islamic State in 2019, \u201cprovided an insight into her support of IS\u201d. <\/p>\n

These allegedly included messages encouraging others to travel to Syria and videos capturing her showing her children extremist material. <\/p>\n

One video, filmed in March 2016, allegedly shows her asking her eldest child, aged just two at the time: \u201cDid you see how the mujahideen killed the kuffar (infidel) with the knife?<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at me,\u201d she allegedly said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow did they slaughter them with the knife? Look at me. How do they slaughter the apostate? Show me how.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had argued the videos allegedly demonstrated Ms El Houli\u2019s \u201cengagement and enthusiasm\u201d for ISIS.<\/p>\n

Ms El Houli\u2019s barrister, Peter Morrissey SC, told the court his client had been a naive young woman who \u201cdrank the Kool-Aid\u201d and followed her husband to Syria. <\/p>\n

In the months since Ms El Houli\u2019s return, Mr Morrissey said his client had been trying to rebuild her life, dealing with health issues and trauma while enrolling her children in school and sports.<\/p>\n

He had previously told the court his client renounced ISIS and violent jihad, wanting \u201cnothing to do with it\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr Sonnet said while the videos were disturbing, he accepted the evidence of clinical psychologist Katie Seidler, who told the court she\u2019d assessed Ms El Houli as a low risk after using a terrorism assessment tool. \ufeff<\/p>\n

He also noted she had several protective factors, including her four children, supportive family, co-operation with police and ongoing health and psychological care. <\/p>\n

Ms El Houli\u2019s first husband, Mr Hamad, was killed fighting for ISIS prior to February 2015, the court was told, with Ms El Houli marrying a second Australian fighter, Abdulkadehr Assaad, in 2016.<\/p>\n

Constable Sherlock said Mr Assad was killed prior to June 2017 and Ms El Houli married a third ISIS member in March 2018 before they divorced within months.<\/p>\n

She was captured by Kurdish forces in 2019 and interred in the Al-Hawl internally displaced persons camp for six years until being \u201csmuggled out\u201d in June last year.<\/p>\n

Ms El Houli is expected to be released from custody on Monday evening. <\/p>\n

Read related topics:Melbourne<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Melbourne woman accused of joining Islamic State has been barred from communicating with a convicted terror 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