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The family of Yusuf Zahab, an Australian taken to Islamic State territory in Syria as a 12-year-old in 2015, believes he could be released from an Iraqi prison in coming weeks after indications he will not face trial as a criminal.
The family of Yusuf Zahab, an Australian man taken to Islamic State territory in Syria as a 12-year-old boy in 2015, believes he could be released from an Iraqi prison in coming weeks.
Indications emerging from Iraq suggest he will not face trial as a criminal. Sources close to his family believe release is likely, though this masthead has been unable to independently confirm it. Zahab was a child when his parents took him to live in the so-called caliphate in Syria. When he was 16, the terrorist regime fell, and he was separated from his mother and taken into a prison for men.
Yusuf Zahab Prison Transfer And Trial Prospects
He is now 23. In February he was transferred from Syria to a prison in Iraq, along with thousands of other alleged foreign fighters. The Iraqi government plans to put the bulk of those alleged foreign fighters on trial under threat of the death penalty. Information now emerging from Iraq suggests Zahab might not be among them.
He was issued a passport in January, so if he was released, he could potentially find his own way home. Despite his youth, the Australian government has made clear it will not help him return. Its official position is to regard Zahab as one of the ISIS-linked individuals it will refuse to repatriate. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Foreign Minister Penny Wong's office declined to comment on his case for privacy reasons.
A source close to the Zahab family, speaking on condition of anonymity to maintain their privacy, said Yusuf absolutely had no agency in the family's decision to go to Syria in early 2015. After seven years in prison, the source said, he is still like a child. The source said it is literally like Yusuf who left Australia as a child at 12.
Zahab Family Frustrated With Australian Government
The source said the family was frustrated with the Australian government, as officials had not visited Yusuf since June, claiming the situation was too dangerous. We get information in dribs and drabs, and half the time the department do not know, the source said. According to the Australian government's information, Zahab was still under active investigation by Iraqi authorities. They are trying to get more information with regards to the process itself.
It really breaks your heart. It is like, what is our citizenship worth? the source said. After the June consular visit, the source said, they had heard that Yusuf was good, but had pain in his head and arm from injuries he suffered in 2022 during an IS siege of a Syrian prison where he was held. Zahab believed there was still shrapnel in his wounds, the source said.
Yusuf Zahab's mother, Aminah, sister Sumaya and cousin Nesrine were in a group of Australian women and children who returned from Syrian detention camps in May. Yusuf's father, Hicham, remains in prison in Iraq. The family claims they were tricked into going to Syria by another son, Muhammad, who died in the fighting. Advocate Kylie Moore-Gilbert said the Australian government had a responsibility to repatriate Zahab and help his rehabilitation.
Advocate Calls Zahab A Victim Not Criminal
Moore-Gilbert founded the Australian Wrongful and Arbitrary Detention Alliance after her own false imprisonment in Iran. She said Zahab's youth made him a victim, not a criminal. Yusuf was wrongfully detained in prison without committing any crime whatever, because of who his family were, Moore-Gilbert said. We do not in Australia normally think of children of bad people being complicit in the crimes of their parents.
He was an innocent boy who has spent years in prison and is now a young man. We have a duty to bring him home and to rehabilitate him and try to bring his life back after God knows what horrors he has endured. Zahab was interviewed by SBS Dateline in a Syrian prison in 2024. He has since been moved to Iraq.
A school photo from his time in Sydney shows him before he was taken to Islamic State territory as a child. Six French nationals are currently on trial in Baghdad and face the death penalty. Their lawyers have argued they should be tried in France, saying the Iraqi proceedings are so truncated they are unable to offer a proper defence.
American Troop Withdrawal Raises Iraq Security Concerns
American forces quit Iraq on Wednesday for the first time in 15 years after President Donald Trump enacted a Joe Biden-era agreement. The withdrawal prompted fears the country will not have the capacity to house thousands of former Islamic State prisoners, including Australians, or that Iran or Islamic State could dramatically increase their influence in the country. Previous mass trials of IS suspects faced international criticism for being too hasty and for extracting confessions by force.
In March, two young men, one from Finland and the other from the United States, were released after Iraqi authorities found no evidence of IS affiliation. More than 450 Syrians and seven Iraqis were also released because of insufficient evidence against them.
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theage:‘Still like a child’: Family believes Australian taken to Syria as a boy could be released soon 
brisbanetimes:‘Still like a child’: Family believes Australian taken to Syria as a boy could be released soonThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Islamic State Iraq Trials Australian Repatriation Kylie Moore-Gilbert Iraq Prison
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