Squamish woman preparing for terrorism trial by jury

A Squamish, B.C. woman accused of joining ISIS is getting closer to her trial on terrorism-related charges.

Source: Flickr

A Squamish, B.C. woman accused of joining ISIS is getting closer to her trial on terrorism-related charges.

Kimberly Polman, 52-years-old, had her case appear before the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Wednesday.

Her trial date is likely to be determined on April 23. The charges stem from allegations that in mid-2015 Polman left Canada for Istanbul, en route to Syria to knowingly “engage in activities with a terrorist organization, specifically ISIS.”

Police further allege that Polman helped to “move weapons for ISIS, was an informant for (ISIS’s) secret police and married two members of the group, most recently a builder of explosive devices.”

Polman was arrested on Oct. 27, 2022, after Global Affairs Canada flew her home from a prison camp in northeast Syria.

According to RCMP, the story goes as follows: Polman financed a trip to Vienna, Austria by obtaining gift cards from a Muslim charity and then selling them to fund her trip. From Austria, she flew to Turkey, where ISIS smuggled her into Raqqah, the ISIS capital in Syria.

A friend in Canada told police Polman had subsequently phoned to say she had pledged allegiance to the ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Further allegations state Polman participated in ISIS operations within the Syrian Arab Republic for four years, between July 2015 and July 2019.

Polman has steadfastly maintained her innocence. She has publicly portrayed herself as a victim, who was “in a bad place,” before being lured to Syria by a man she met online.

Polman has claimed, repeatedly, that she travelled to Turkey to volunteer as a nurse.

In a letter to Canadians, she wrote she was an “innocent woman” who only wanted to help children and “ended up with bad people.”

Polman is set to appear before the courts next on April 17, with a trial date expected to be announced one week later.