'ISIS brides' on slavery charges to make bid for freedom
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
Two Islamic State-linked women arrested and charged with slavery offences hours after returning from a Syrian refugee camp are seeking release into the community.
Kawsar Ahmad, 53, and Zeinab Ahmad, 31, will make an application for bail on Monday in Melbourne Magistrates Court following a brief court appearance on Friday when they were remanded in custody.
The duo were among a larger group of women and children who returned to Australia on Thursday amid chaotic airport scenes after languishing in a Syrian refugee camp for years.
LIVE UPDATES: Trump's extraordinary online spray at Barack Obama
They have both been charged with several crimes against humanity and slavery offences allegedly committed in Syria.
Detectives allege Kawsar Ahmad, also known as Abbas, travelled to the region with her husband and children in 2014.
They allege she was complicit buying a female slave for $US10,000, and knowingly kept the woman in her home.
She has been charged with enslavement, possessing a slave, using a slave and slave trading.
READ MORE: Plane en route to lift Aussies from virus-stricken cruise ship
Charge sheets released by the court allege the 53-year-old enslaved, possessed and used the slave in Mayadin, Hajin, Gharanji, Bahra, Abu Hamam, Walaa and other places in the Deir ez-Zu province of Syria between June 2017 and November 2018.
It is alleged the younger Ahmad had also knowingly kept a female slave in her Syrian home, with police charging her with enslavement and using a slave offences over the same period.
The document stated the pair's conduct was "committed intentionally or knowingly as part of a widespread or systemic attack directed against a civil population".
Police said the pair were detained by Kurdish forces in 2019 and held with other family members in Al Roj Internally Displaced Persons camp.
READ MORE: Inflation could hit 7 per cent – this is what it would mean
They are among three returnees charged following an almost decade-long investigation, which began after the women travelled to the Middle East with their partners who allegedly intended to fight for Islamic State.
A third woman, 32-year-old Janai Safar, who flew into Sydney, was arrested and charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation.
She was denied bail due to the seriousness of the charges and will return before the court in July.
NEVER MISS A STORY: Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.
Download the 9NEWS App here via Apple and Google Play
Make 9News your preferred source on Google by ticking this box here
- Sign up to our breaking newsletter here
