ISIS bride Lisa Smith will be questioned by Gardaí on suspected terrorist offences upon her return home to Ireland.
Assistant Commissioner Michael O’Sullivan confirmed to RTE News that Smith can be prosecuted under the Criminal Justice Act of 2005.
Under the act it is a criminal offence to engage in terror activity inside or outside the state
Detectives have already begun investigating Smith as part of a probe into her activities in the region.
Smith has always maintained she played no part in any acts of terror carried out by the Islamic State.
The 38-year-old Dundalk mother-of-one travelled to Syria to join the Islamic State back in 2016.
She is now being held in a detention camp in Syria along with her two-year-old daughter following the collapse of the IS caliphate in the region.
A former Defence Forces soldier, Smith is seeking a return to Ireland and says her jihadist husband was killed in the conflict in Syria.
O’Sullivan told RTE that it will be up the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine whether Smith faces criminal charges.
Smith is one of two Irish citizens under criminal investigation on suspicion of committing terrorist offences with ISIS.
The other is Alexandr Bekmirzaev who is currently being detained in Syria.
According to the Assistant Commissioner five other Irish citizens who travelled to Syria have returned and gardaí are satisfied they pose no threat following a thorough investigation.
It’s thought that 30 Irish people travelled to fight in wars abroad. 16 of this number are now thought to be deceased.
A further 50 suspected Islamist supporters and sympathisers are under intensive surveillance.
