A former Irish soldier has been found guilty of membership in the so-called Islamic State.
Lisa Smith of Dundalk in Co Laut was convicted by a judge at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
Smith wiped the tears from his eyes as the verdict was read by Judge Tony Hunt.
The 40-year-old man was acquitted on a second charge of attempting to finance the terrorist organization.
The judge told the court that it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Smith’s intentions when she sent 800 euros to the so-called Islamic State member were not charitable or humanitarian.
Smith left the Irish army after converting to Islam in 2011 and later traveled to ISIS-controlled territory in Syria.
There, after a previous marriage ended, she married Sajid Aslam, a Briton whom the court said had “taken a sniper course on her advice”.
Smith had a daughter, born in June 2017, before returning to Ireland in December 2019 after the break-up of Islamic State.
She was arrested at Dublin airport and charged with terrorist offenses.
The court was told that Smith “tried to gain access to IDF-controlled territory and sought the means by which this could be done.”
Sean Gillan SC, of the prosecution, said Smith “has signed up for reciprocity of loyalty and protection and in that sense she has wrapped herself in the standard or black flag of the Islamic State.”
According to the prosecution, “making a hijra” (emigration) in this specific context is “a central act of loyalty to this proto-state” and “an act without which the terrorist group cannot survive”.
“This is the lifeblood of the Islamic State,” Gillan said.
Smith will be convicted on July 11.
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