LONDON: A woman accused of joining Daesh was prepared to die a martyr, a Dublin court has been told.
Lisa Smith, 39, from Dundalk, County Louth, has pleaded not guilty to being a member of a terrorist organization between October 2015 and December 2019.
Her case opened on Tuesday in a special criminal court with prosecutor Sean Gillane telling the hearing that the former Irish Defense Forces soldier had “enveloped” herself in the “black flag of Islamic State (Daesh).”
He said Smith “tried to access Islamic State-controlled territory and sought out the means in which this could be done.”
The court heard that she had traveled to Syria in 2015 and had married and had a child while there. She later fled to a refugee camp as the group’s territory collapsed and was arrested upon her repatriation to Ireland.
It was also claimed in court that her husband, Sajid Aslam, a Daesh fighter said to have taken border patrol duties for the group, “had done a sniper’s course on her advice,” and that Smith had been involved with various Facebook and Telegram groups. In one discussion about Daesh’s execution of five men by drowning in a cage, the prosecution claimed that in reply Smith said: “OK, now I understand why they were drowned. I didn’t know the other half of the story.”
Smith has also pleaded not guilty to financing Daesh by sending 800 euros ($902) by Western Union money transfer to a named person in 2015.
She has not been accused of using arms while in Syria.
Gillane noted that her membership of Daesh could be adduced by her association, state of mind, and allegiance to the group’s leadership.
Smith converted to Islam in 2011 and left the Irish military after she was refused permission to wear a hijab while working.
Her trial is expected to last up to 12 weeks.