A guilty verdict against an Adelaide woman accused of being a member of Islamic State is unreasonable and can't be supported on the evidence, a court has been told.
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Zainab Abdirahman-Khalif was jailed for three years after she communicated with other members and organised a trip to join the terror group before her arrest.
The 24-year-old was found guilty last year in what was SA's first terrorism trial.
In the Court of Criminal Appeal on Monday, her counsel Marie Shaw argued the trial judge had failed to put the defence case properly to the jury and the summing up at the end of the trial was unbalanced.
She said the verdict couldn't be supported on the evidence and was unreasonable.
Ms Shaw said a key issue at the trial was what, in fact, constituted being either a member or an informal member of IS.
She said no evidence was put to the jury as to what a member may or may not be or what an informal member may or may not be.
That left the jury to determine whether Abdirahman-Khalif's travel to Turkey amounted to her taking steps to become a member of the terror group.
Abdirahman-Khalif was stopped by police at Adelaide Airport while trying to board a plane to Istanbul in July 2016.
She told officers she was taking a last-minute holiday, despite having a small amount of clothing, no return flight and less than $200 in funds.
The Somalian refugee was later released but arrested at the Port Adelaide TAFE SA campus in May 2017, following a lengthy police investigation.
In sentencing, Justice David Peek said Abdirahman-Khalif had repeatedly expressed support for IS and jihad by playing chants about martyrdom, infidels, extreme violence, killing and death.
He said while she was in continuous contact with group members, including three women who carried out a deadly attack at a Kenyan police station, she was not involved in performing violent acts of terrorism.
"You were not found to be a terrorist in the sense of a person who is disposed to planning or committing acts of violence and your membership did not involve you undertaking any particular tasks or responsibilities for IS," he said.
Justice Peek imposed a non-parole period of two years and three months.
The appeal hearing is continuing.
Australian Associated Press
