Ireland: Ex-Soldier Convicted of Belonging to the Islamic State

On Monday, a 40-year-old former Irish soldier was found guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization after the Irish justice system found that she had joined and pledged allegiance to the Islamic State when she visited Syria in 2015.

Lisa Smith, who had left the army in 2011, was declared not guilty of financing a terrorist organization with a donation of 800 euros, intended, according to her, for humanitarian purposes.

The judge told the court it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith’s intentions when she sent €800 to an alleged Islamic State member were not charitable or humanitarian.

Ms. Smith left the Irish Army after converting to Islam in 2011 and later traveled to Islamic State-controlled territory in Syria.

She had previously made a pilgrimage to Mecca in 2012 and expressed on Facebook her desire to live under Sharia law and die as a “martyr.”

After the end of her previous marriage, she married Sajid Aslam in Syria, a Briton who the court was told had “taken a sniper course on her advice.”

Smith had a daughter born in June 2017 before she returned to Ireland in December 2019 following the collapse of the Islamic State.

She was arrested at Dublin Airport and charged with terrorism offenses.