LIVE UPDATE: SHOCK BAIL DECISION..! – A magistrate has granted bail to a woman accused of slavery-related offences after prosecutors alleged she left Australia with her family to join Islamic State.
LIVE UPDATES: A magistrate has granted bail for a woman charged with slavery offences after allegedly leaving Australia with her family to join Islamic State.
Albanese on final ‘ISIS bride’ being granted return to Australia
The Australian government has granted a travel permit allowing the final ISIS bride to return to Australia, four months after she received a temporary exclusion order in February based on ASIO advice.
Accused ISIS bride to walk from court after bail win
An accused ISIS bride will walk from court after winning her bid for freedom.
Kawsar Ahmad, 54, looked relieved and her supporters gasped as Chief Magistrate Lisa Hannan granted her bail in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon.
It comes a week after her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31, lost her bid for bail in the same court.
The two women were in May charged with slavery offences after they both returned to Australia with other family members of former Islamic State fighters.
Prosecutors allege Kawsar Ahmad migrated to Syria with her husband Mohammed and their children to join IS around January 2015.
It’s alleged while in Syria in 2017, Mohammed bought a teenage girl as a slave and repeatedly raped and assaulted the girl.
Ahmad allegedly agreed to the purchase and treated the girl badly, often threatening her with beatings although she never assaulted the girl herself.
In opposing bail, Detective Senior Constable Marc Clendenning told the court Ahmad was a risk to the community and there were concerns she would spread extremist ideology if released.
Ahmad’s defence barrister Peter Morrissey SC argued his client did not support IS and strict bail conditions including a ban on attending mosques would reduce any alleged risk.
Judge Hannan found the risk was so low that stringent bail conditions could be imposed to protect the community as she granted Ahmad bail.
Ahmad will walk from Melbourne Magistrates Court later on Friday.
– with AAP
Attack on Gulf ship a bad sign for Australia’s inflation fight
An attack on a ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz is a sign Australia’s inflation crisis could be prolonged and see the Reserve Bank increase interest rates again in August to combat a wage-price spiral.
While crude oil prices have fallen back to $US70 a barrel for the first time since the start of March, during the early days of the Iran war, secondary effects from the global oil crisis are yet to be felt.
Iran’s new Persian Gulf Strait Authority — established during the conflict to manage ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz — is refusing to guarantee safe passage of vessels.
“Any consequences arising from the use of unauthorised routes shall be the responsibility of the vessel’s owner, operator and master,” it said on X.
A Singapore-flagged cargo ship, identified by Reuters as Ever Lonely, was targeted by a drone, which could potentially delay supplies of crude oil to Asian refineries that supply Australia with 80 per cent of its petrol and diesel.
The UN’s International Maritime Organisation has since delayed the planned evacuation of more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz following the attack.
Read the full story.
Matthew Guy demands apology over Moira Deeming allegations
Victorian MP Matthew Guy has told colleague Moria Deeming she must apologise publicly after accusations of assault were made against him.
Victoria Police investigated the claims of Ms Deeming, something which they have now concluded without pressing any charges.
“My wife, my sons, my parents, my brother, my cousins, my family who share my name deserve those apologies as well. My family name, my reputation is not a political toy. No one’s is, and so I want, and my family deserve those apologies, particularly from Moira Deeming,” Mr Guy said on Friday.
“There was no ambiguity. I did not do what was alleged. The CCTV proves this. It did from the start, and Victoria Police agree.”
Mr Guy’s legal team said in a statement that women should always be believed, but so should men.
Mr Guy added: “The Premier and the Attorney General yesterday told every Victorian male over 40, they don’t have your back. They never believe you. In (their) eyes, you’re guilty before proven innocent.”
“To Aussie males who are sick of this treatment, who are sick of not being believed, some of us in parliament still have your back. I have your back. Your word matters as much as anyone else’s. You shouldn’t have to prove your innocence.”
Ms Deeming is yet to share a public comment.
