Quebec woman who joined ISIL pleads guilty to supporting terror group

A Quebec woman who travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and marry one of its fighters, has pleaded guilty to one count of participating in the activities of a terrorist group.

A Quebec court judge agreed to a joint submission from the federal Crown and lawyers for Oumaima Chouay — she will serve one day in custody in addition to the 110 days she spent in pretrial detention and be on probation for three years. As part of her guilty plea, three other terror-related charges were stayed.

Federal prosecutors say Chouay is the first person convicted in Canada for providing support to a terror group by marrying a fighter.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada said independent experts who examined Chouay, 29, over the past 30 months concluded that her risk of recidivism and her dangerousness to society are very low. The RCMP share that assessment.

“The recommended sentence here takes into consideration the early, ongoing, demonstrated and independently evaluated steps Ms. Chouay has taken to demonstrate remorse, take responsibility, commit to fundamental change and a rejection of extremist ideology,” George Dolhai, director of public prosecutions, said in a statement.

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“This addresses the ultimate goal of protecting the community.”

Chouay admitted to joining the Islamic State, marrying a fighter and having two children with him to be raised under ISIL doctrine. She is not suspected of having participated in combat or terrorist activities.

Chouay was charged after being repatriated to Canada from a detention camp in Syria in October 2022. She was granted bail in January 2023 under strict conditions, and authorities say she has attended depolarization therapy and will continue to do so.

The RCMP investigation began several years earlier in 2014, when she left Canada as a teenager for Turkey before crossing into Syria.

“(She) knew that by joining the Islamic State, she would be participating in the activities of this terrorist group,” court documents say.

“(She) knew, at the time of joining the Islamic State, the various roles of women within this terrorist group, including assistance with recruitment on social media, the creation and distribution of propaganda, as well as a role in supporting fighters and founding a family raised in accordance with the values of the Islamic State.”

Less than a month after her arrival in the Middle East, she was married to a German national who had also travelled to the region to join ISIL. She lived in Iraq and Syria during her time with ISIL, giving birth to her first child in November 2015.

Court documents say that before the fall of the Islamic State, she had told her mother she wanted to leave. In November 2017, Chouay and her young daughter attempted to flee but were captured by Syrian Democratic Forces. She gave birth to her second child between November 2017 and January 2018.

She was held under harsh conditions at the Roj camp in northeastern Syria in a region recaptured from ISIL.

That’s where she remained until her repatriation to Canada, along with her two children and another Canadian woman, Kimberly Poman, from Squamish, B.C. Poman is charged with leaving Canada to participate in a terrorist group’s activities, and participation in the activity of a terrorist group.

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