An 18-year-old woman has been arrested by New South Wales police and is expected to be charged with terrorism offences following her refusal to answer questions about her husband before the New South Wales crime commission.
Alo-Bridget Namoa was previously charged with 31 counts of refusing or failing to answer questions before the commission. The secretive law enforcement body was seeking to compel her to answer a series of questions about her husband.
She was granted bail last week in relation to those offences.
On Tuesday deputy police commissioner Catherine Burn said the woman had been arrested and was likely to be charged later in the day.
“As part of an ongoing investigation today our team of officers has arrested an 18-year-old woman at Guildford,” she said. “We anticipate that we will charge her with two terrorism offences.”
The offences she is likely to be charged with are possessing an item connected to the preparation of a terrorism attack and recklessly collecting a document for the preparation of a terrorism attack.
Burn said the object police will allege she was in possession of was a knife.
Namoa’s husband Sameh Bayda was charged in January with collecting documents likely to facilitate a terrorist attack.
When asked whether the documents and charges were linked, Burn said police “have previously charged an 18-year-old male” and that “these are connected to previous matters that have been put before the court.”
Had Namoa answered questions before the crime commission about her husband, the evidence obtained in the course of those hearings would not have been admissible in court.
Namoa is likely to appear in court later on Tuesday.
