A 53-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter made their first court appearance in Melbourne on Friday, just hours after being taken into custody upon their arrival back in Australia from Syria, with legal teams confirming plans to apply for bail for both defendants early next week.
Kawsar Ahmad, who also goes by the name Kawsar Abbas, faces four separate charges linked to crimes against humanity: enslavement, possession of a slave, use of a slave, and participation in slave trafficking. Her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, alternatively recorded as Zeinab Ahmed, faces two counts of enslavement and use of a slave. Every charge carried by the pair carries a maximum 25-year prison sentence if convicted.
The two women were among a group of 13 Australian citizens — four adult women and nine children — repatriated from northern Syria this week, landing on Australian soil on Thursday evening. They were taken into custody by authorities immediately after clearing customs at Melbourne Airport. A third daughter of Kawsar Ahmad, Zahra Ahmad, who is the widow of notorious killed Islamic State recruiter Muhammad Zahab, was allowed to leave the airport without arrest.
Before the pair were taken into custody, chaotic confrontations broke out at the airport between supporters of the repatriated group and members of the media, as supporters escorted the group to a waiting minibus to leave the terminal.
Investigative allegations from Australian police outline that the two women first traveled to Syria with their extended family back in 2014, and had been held by Kurdish-led forces at the Al Roj displacement camp in northern Syria since March 2019. Authorities allege that while the family was living in Syria, they held captive and enslaved multiple Yazidi women, members of an ethnic minority group native to northern Iraq who were targeted by the Islamic State for systematic enslavement and genocide.
When the case was called at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning, the public gallery was filled to capacity with journalists, legal observers, and supporters of the two women. Around 10 additional attendees were forced to stand along the perimeter walls of the gallery due to the lack of available seating. Court observers noted that Kawsar Ahmad scanned the room after taking her place at the defense table, before locking eyes with her group of supporters and smiling. Both women remained in the clothing they wore when they were arrested on Thursday.
Bill Doogue, legal counsel for Kawsar Ahmad, informed the court that the defense would formally submit a bail application on the coming Monday. Minutes later, Maya George, Zeinab Ahmad’s attorney, confirmed her team would also pursue bail for her client in line with the same timeline.