Courts / Dublin / Report

The path of hate: how an Irish soldier joined Islamic State

Date
2022-07-22

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Lisa Smith, an Irish former soldier, was arrested after returning from Syria where she had lived with a Tunisian husband and later a Turkish man. She claimed she joined the Islamic State (IS) out of religious obligation, citing fear of hellfire and a belief that hijrah was mandatory for Muslims. Witnesses described her conversion to Islam in 2010, her relationship with an American convert who encouraged her to travel, and her subsequent travel to Istanbul and then to Syria in 2015. In Syria she lived in a "madaffa" for women, married a Turkish IS fighter, and later moved to Raqqa where she was subjected to domestic violence. She sent €800 to the fighter in 2015, which the prosecution argued was financing terrorism. The Special Criminal Court found her guilty of membership of IS but not of funding terrorism, noting the €800 could have been humanitarian. The court rejected her claim that her religious motives exempted her from criminal liability.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: The path of hate: how an Irish soldier joined Islamic State. Procedural stage: trial

When:

January 24 Hearing Or Sentence
August 2013 Other
May 6, 2015 Other
July 2014 Other
July 9, 2014 Other
September 2014 Other
October 1, 2015 Other
February 2016 Other
December 1, 2019 Incident
January 25 Hearing Or Sentence
July 11 Hearing Or Sentence
May 2015 Incident
Christmas Incident
2022-07-22 Publication

Why: She said: "I'm Catholic and I like to go to Medjugorje or Lourdes because there are people there of the same faith as me and Lisa wanted to go to a place with Muslims. CNI source report