B.C. woman who married ISIS fighter now bound by terrorism peace bond

A judge has placed a terrorism peace bond on a British Columbia woman who was repatriated to Canada last year from a Syrian prison camp after she married an ISIS fighter.

Chilliwack provincial court Judge Kristen Mundstock has ruled Kimberly Polman must follow several conditions while under bond, including reporting to a parole officer, remaining at her current Squamish, B.C., address, wearing electronic supervision equipment and not leaving the province.

The order also includes conditions that Polman have no contact with several people, such as her ex-husband, that she have no access to driving a vehicle except an electronic bike and that she not communicate with anyone suspected to be involved in terrorism.

“You must not possess any knives or any other sharp-bladed instrument used, designed to be used, or intended to be used to cut things,” the order said of another condition facing Polman. “The exceptions are: A. You can possess a knife when preparing and eating food. B. You can possess these items inside the place where you live and regularly sleep.

“You shall not possess any information, electronic or otherwise, that explains how to make or use an explosive substance.”

The court order is effective as of Tuesday and will last for eight months.

Polman and another woman were returned to Canada in October 2022 from the detention camp in Syria that is holding mostly women and children who were rounded up after the fall of the extremist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaida splinter group.

She was arrested on her return to Canada but had been out on bail pending the bond decision, which if breached could result in a prison sentence.

Oumaima Chouay, who returned to Canada at the same time as Polman, was granted bail in January in Quebec, after being charged with leaving the country to participate in the activity of a terrorist group, providing property or services for terrorism purposes and conspiracy to participate in the activity of a terrorist group.

The return of Polman and Chouay was organized by Global Affairs Canada, with assistance from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the United States.

Another four Canadian women and 10 children landed in Montreal in April after being held for years at a prison camp in Syria. Three of the women were arrested upon arrival, while the fourth was not detained.

As of April, about 10,000 of the detainees in Syrian camps are foreign nationals from more than 60 countries, and Kurdish forces that control the region where the camps are located have asked those countries to repatriate their citizens.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2023.