Ex-Irish Defence Forces Servicewoman Pleades Not Guilty Over Membership of the Islamic State

An ex-servicewoman of the Irish Defence Forces has pleaded not guilty to membership of the Islamic State during a court hearing on Tuesday.

Lisa Smith, who previously served in Ireland’s Defence Forces, has pleaded not guilty to having been a member of the Islamic State.

It comes after the military veteran’s trial began on Tuesday over her alleged membership of the terrorist group between October 28, 2015, and December 1, 2019, in Ireland’s Special Criminal Court.

According to a report by the Irish Times, the court heard from the prosecution counsel that Smith “enveloped herself in the standard or black flag of Isis”.

Smith was also said to have shown loyalty to the Islamic State by migrating to its territory in Syria, where the court heard the veteran married and had a child.

According to a Sky News report, she is also reported to have “expressed a desire” to live under Sharia law, allegedly having a willingness to die a martyr according to the prosecution.

She also reportedly encouraged her husband — a UK national who the prosecution claims did border security for IS — to take a sniper course.

The prosecution also claimed that, as the fundamentalist group lost territory in the war-torn country, she fled with the group.

“Far from moving away or running away from them, she was running with them,” prosecution counsel Sean Gillane reportedly said, according to the Irish Independent.

The accused was reportedly detained by Syrian forces in March 2019, later being repatriated to Ireland via Turkey on December 1st, when she was arrested.

Having joined the Defence Forces in 2001 at the age of 19, Smith reportedly converted to Islam during her career as a soldier, eventually seeking a discharge in 2011 over her being refused a dispensation to wear a hijab.

A friend of the accused, Una McCartney, who the Irish Independent reports as having known her for 20 years, took to the stand as a witness.

McCartney told the court that she had believed that Smith’s conversion to Islam would “fizzle out”, and that it was her impression that Smith needed help or counselling.

The witness also reported that Smith had a difficult upbringing, describing the ex-servicewoman’s father as being a violent alcoholic.

Smith has also pleaded not guilty to the financing of terrorism by sending an €800 Western Union transfer.

As of the time of writing, the trial is ongoing.