NATION Wife of terrorist insolent to court

THE wife of a terrorist recruiter has become the first person in NSW to be convicted over refusing to stand for a judge.

Moutia Elzahed (pictured) defiantly remained seated again with arms folded as magistrate Carolyn Huntsman left the bench after delivering her ruling yesterday. The 50year-old Muslim woman, who’s married to jailed Islamic State extremist Hamdi Alqudsi, was found guilty of nine counts of disrespectful behaviour in court in 2016.

Yesterday’s stand-off came to a head later when the magistrate returned to Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court and ordered Elzahed to leave her seat at the back of the courtroom and approach the bar table.

“Remain standing – you remain standing when I speak to you,” Ms Huntsman said. The magistrate found Elzahed had repeatedly and intentionally flouted the established court convention in 2016 when she failed to rise for District Court Judge Audrey Balla.

Elzahed said she only stood for Allah but Ms Huntsman found no evidence she’d acted on a genuine religious belief.

“No evidence was presented that the teachings of Islam compel this conduct,” the magistrate said.

In 2016, Elzahed had been trying to sue the state and federal governments over claims of police violence during a raid on her Sydney home two years earlier. She was ultimately unsuccessful.

CCTV footage previously played in court showed Elzahed failed to rise nine times in November and December, with each offence carrying a maximum jail term of 14 days and/or a $1100 fine.

The magistrate yesterday noted Elzahed (pictured), who had no prior convictions, might be eligible for community work when the matter returns to court on June 15.

Ms Huntsman ruled that the law Elzahed was charged under – introduced in 2016 following a string of high-profile cases where Muslim defendants refused to stand citing their faith – was valid.

The defence had originally cast doubt over whether Elzahed was the woman under the black niqab who refused to stand. But her lawyer later conceded her identity wouldn’t be contested.

Defence barrister David Hume instead argued his client should be acquitted because there was no evidence Elzahed was under a legal duty to stand.