BC Woman Who Married ISIS Member Pleads Guilty to Terrorism Offence

A B.C. woman who travelled to Syria in 2015 after meeting an ISIS militant online and marrying him has pleaded guilty to a terrorism-related offence, weeks before her scheduled trial.

Kimberly Polman, 54, of Squamish, B.C., pleaded guilty on Oct. 8 in B.C. Supreme Court to leaving Canada to participate in the activities of a terrorist group.

It remains unclear whether a second charge against Polman for allegedly participating in the activities of a terrorist group has been withdrawn, stayed, or remains before the court.

Polman had been scheduled for a jury trial in November after a number of pretrial hearings and Charter challenges. 

She is currently out of custody and expected to return to court to be given a sentencing date. The offence she has pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. 

Polman’s lawyer, David Ferguson, told The Vancouver Sun that the guilty plea represents Polman “taking responsibility for her actions in 2015.” He said her family is supporting her as she awaits sentencing later this year.

“It’s been a long road since to get to this point,” Ferguson said, noting that Polman was detained for roughly four years in Syria.

Polman’s Case

Polman, who holds dual Canadian and American citizenship, was raised in a Mennonite community in Hamilton, Ont. She later studied legal administration at Douglas College in Metro Vancouver and worked at a Muslim school in Richmond, B.C.

Polman reportedly converted to Islam in the early 2000s and went on to marry a Somalian ISIS fighter named Suheib she met online in September 2014, ultimately leaving Canada for Syria in July 2015.

At the time she told relatives she was planning a trip around Austria, according to an investigation by Human Rights Watch.

Instead, authorities allege that Polman travelled from Vancouver to Vienna and then to Turkey, before crossing into ISIS-held territory in Syria.

Upon arriving in Syria, investigators allege that Polman received firearms training and became an informant for ISIS’s secret police, known as the Emni.

The RCMP also allege that Polman was associated with Nusaybah Katibah, a female ISIS group, and belonged to a group of older women who formed an all-female ISIS battalion. The RCMP said the women “were dedicated to the cause, and did many jobs for ISIS, because they did not have young families to care for.”

Polman later divorced Suheib after he married another woman, and she went on to marry another ISIS member identified as Ali, who authorities say was tasked with making explosives for ISIS.

Polman has said she became disillusioned with ISIS after arriving in Syria, citing the group’s treatment of women and the physical and psychological abuse she said she suffered at the hands of Suheib, who she said prevented her from leaving the country.

Polman reportedly told her relatives that Suheib also had her put in prison in Raqqa, Syria, for 10 months for being a “disobedient wife,” where she said she was sexually assaulted and not given enough food.

The allegations about Polman’s activities in Syria were raised during earlier terrorism peace bond proceedings. Her guilty plea to leaving Canada to participate in the activities of a terrorist group does not establish the other allegations.

Following the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria in March 2019, Polman was detained in northeastern Syria until coming back to Canada in October 2022.

Her case was raised by human rights advocates at the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, who brought up concerns over her poor health and treatment, saying she was being detained without charges under conditions that amounted to torture.

Her family has said she suffered significant trauma and feared losing her life while living in ISIS-run territory and while being held in detention after the defeat of ISIS.

Repatriation

Polman and fellow Canadian Oumaima Chouay, who had also been held in detention in Syria, were repatriated to Canada in October 2022. Ottawa said one factor in repatriating them was that Polman and Chouay’s health problems couldn’t be properly treated in northeastern Syria.

Chouay was arrested and charged with four terrorism-related offences upon arrival in Canada, while Polman was arrested and faced terrorism peace bond proceedings.

Polman was released on bail the day after arriving in Canada and allowed to reside with her sister in Chilliwack, B.C., under a number of conditions, including being electronically monitored, reporting to a parole officer, not driving, and agreeing to a curfew and restrictions on travel and communications.

As a result of peace bond proceedings, Polman was placed under an eight-month terrorism peace bond on November 7, 2023, by Chilliwack Provincial Court Judge Kristen Mundstock.

In July 2024, the RCMP charged Polman with leaving Canada to participate in the activities of a terrorist group and participating in the activities of a terrorist group. She pleaded guilty to the first charge on Oct. 8, 2026. The status of the second charge remains unclear.

The Epoch Times contacted Ferguson and the Public Prosecution Service of Canada for comment, but did not hear back by publication time.