Sydney Court denies bail to Alo-Bridget Namoa [1]
Thursday, August 18, 2016 - 18:36
Tongan-Australian teenager and Muslim convert Alo-Bridget Namoa (19) was denied bail by a Sydney court over terrorism charges on Monday August 5.
Australian news media reported bizarre behaviour exhibited by Alo-Bridget in court, reporting that she was laughing and pulling faces during proceedings. Alo-Bridget’s barrister Mr Kahn told the Sydney court that Alo-Bridget was suffering from schizophrenia and hallucinations. She is formally charged with possessing an item connected to a terrorist act and recklessly collecting documents connected to a terrorist act.
Alo-Bridget along with were husband Sameh Bayda (19) was arrested in February this year after Australian Police alleged the teenage couple were collecting information on how to carry out a terrorist attack. Australian Police stated she was found with a hunting knife and an ISIS flag in her handbag as well as instructions for making a bomb detonator. Videos of real life executions and beheadings were also discovered on her mobile phone. Crown barrister Michelle English told the court there was a "wealth of extremist material on her phone".
Prosecutor David Anderson stated “Rather than simply being influenced by Mr Bayda, she’s thinking for herself……There is a concern she is a supporter of ISIS. The accused was up to her eyeballs in what her husband was up to.”
In her defence, Alo-Bridget’s barrister Mr Kahn argued that Alo-Bridget was suffering from mental health problems and that her mental health had been deteriorating while she was in custody. The court heard that Alo-Bridget was being kept in permanent isolation with limited health care, spending 22 hours a day in a single cell and two hours a day in an isolated caged exercise yard. The court also heard that she had told prison doctors “I hear voices. It tells me to hurt people but I don't" and "the toilet talks to me, it makes me laugh".
According to local reports, former classmates and friends were baffled by Alo-Bridget who was originally a Catholic but had undergone a conversion to Islam during High School. According ot The Daily Telegraph one of Alo-Bridget’s friends stated “I’m just so shocked, I can’t believe what’s happened to her, I would never in a million years have picked it."