ISIS bride's bid for freedom is DENIED as she is locked up after judge denies bail - just hours after arriving in Australia

By STEPHEN GIBBS, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA and KYLIE STEVENS, SENIOR BREAKING NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 05:50, 8 May 2026 | Updated: 05:53, 8 May 2026 A recently returned 'ISIS bride' will remain behind bars in a Sydney jail after a judge found there were not 'exceptional circumstances' to release her. Janai Safar was among four women linked to ISIS fighters who touched down in Australia on Thursday night, almost two weeks after leaving the Al-Roj detention camp in northeastern Syria. Safar and her nine-year-old son were escorted off the plane by Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers shortly after landing at Sydney Airport. The 32-year-old appeared stony-faced in footage of her in the backseat of an AFP vehicle arriving at nearby Mascot police station about 7pm. She was later charged by the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team with entering and remaining in a declared conflict zone and being a member of a terrorist organisation. Each offence carries a maximum of 10 years' imprisonment. Safar appeared on Friday afternoon in an online bail court where Judge Daniel Covington denied her release application.  Police will allege Safar travelled to Syria in 2015 to join her husband, who had previously left Australia to join ISIS. Recently returned 'ISIS bride' Janai Safar (above) will remain behind bars in a Sydney jail after a judge found there were not 'exceptional circumstances' to release her Janai Safar (above), was charged with entering or remaining in declared areas, and being a member of a terrorist organisation She returned home for the sake of her son and to finish her nursing degree, according to documents obtained by Nine newspapers. Safar stated her son was her highest priority and that she had returned to Australia to ensure he received an education and integrated into society. She has extensive problems with her kidneys, suffers from PTSD and did not have access to proper healthcare services while in the Syrian detention camp. Safar was a nursing student in Sydney when she left the country in 2015, supposedly to visit family in Lebanon, before travelling to Turkey. It is not known how Safar ended up in Syria, where she married an Australian man who had gone to the Middle East to fight for Islamic State. He died in a motor vehicle accident in 2018. Safar claims she was under constant surveillance of handlers while living in Islamic State territory, that she could never speak freely and felt 'vulnerable and alone' at the time. That marks a stark contrast to remarks Safar made in 2019, when she said she did not regret living under Islamic State and had no plans to return home. Safar also vowed to raise her son in a non-Islamist country, amid fears he could be taken away from her if she ever came back to Australia. Janai Safar (above) previously vowed never to return to Australia where she says there are 'naked women on the street'. She could face ten years in jail 'It was my decision to come here to go away from where women are naked on the street,' she told The Australian in 2019.  'I don't want my son to be raised around that. 'I don't regret coming to Syria. I don't regret living under Islamic State.' Safar was taken to Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre in Sydney's west, while her son is staying with her grandfather. Grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, along with her daughters Zahra Ahmad, 33 and Zeinab Ahmed, 31 and eight children arrived in Melbourne on Thursday night. They were held in customs for hours before Abbas and Zeinab were arrested by AFP officers and charged on Friday morning. Abbas was charged with four crimes against humanity - slavery charges, including keeping and using a slave, and engaging in slave trade. These offences carry a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. The 32-year-old (right) was whisked from the airport to Mascot Police Station after landing in Sydney from Syria Police will allege Abbas travelled to Syria in 2014 with her husband and children, and was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for US$10,000, and knowingly kept the woman in her home. Zeinab faces two slavery charges. Both offences carry a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. She allegedly travelled to Syria in 2014 with her family and knowingly kept a female slave in the home. Zahra Ahmad was allowed to walk free and was shielded from the media by a large group of men dressed in black as she left Melbourne Airport on a shuttle bus. The AFP said investigations into the group were ongoing. 'This remains an active investigation into very serious allegations,' Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt told reporters in Canberra on Thursday night. It is understood 21 Australians remain in the Al-Roj camp. Safar is next due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court on July 15.  Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.