Moutia Elzahed, who says she only stands for Allah, found guilty of disrespectful behaviour in court

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The wife of a Sydney terrorist recruiter who refused to stand for a judge in court, claiming she only stood for Allah, has been found guilty of disrespectful behaviour in court.

Moutia Elzahed defiantly remained seated again with her arms crossed after magistrate Carolyn Huntsman delivered the landmark decision.

The 50-year-old, who is married to jailed Islamic State extremist Hamdi Alqudsi, was found guilty of nine counts of disrespectful behaviour in court.

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The magistrate found Elzahed had repeatedly and intentionally flouted the established court convention in 2016 when she failed to rise for district court judge Audrey Balla.

Elzahed said she only stood for Allah but Huntsman found no evidence she had acted on a genuine religious belief.

CCTV footage previously played in court showed Elzahed failed to rise nine times in November and December, with each offence carrying a maximum jail term of 14 days and/or a fine of $1,100.

In 2016, Elzahed had been trying to sue the state and federal governments on claims of police violence and wrongful imprisonment over a raid on her Sydney home two years earlier. She was ultimately unsuccessful.

Outside Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Friday, Elzahed gave the Isis one-finger salute while her friend called journalists “cockroaches”.

The matter will return to court on 15 June.