Britain’s most notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary is finally behind bars after being convicted of inviting his followers to support Islamic State terrorists.
According the Standard’s story, the 49-year-old lawyer turned radical cleric has for two decades been the spiritual guide for UK extremists including Lee Rigby killer Michael Adebolajo, Isis executioner Siddhartha Dhar, and hate preacher Abu Hamza.
Through his organisations, Muslim4UK and Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), Choudary has been a constant thorn in the side of British authorities, defending terrorist atrocities while promoting an ideology of hate.
Choudary has played a “significant” role in recruiting Muslims to the extremist cause, police say, inspiring many of the 850 Brits who have headed to Syria since the establishment of the so-called Islamic State.
While IS terrorists were executing innocent prisoners, Choudary and Rahman were posting YouTube videos of extremist lectures and used social media to urge others to follow. Met Commander Dean Haydon said detectives had trawled through 20 years of material amassed on Choudary and Rahman, but it was only after they swore allegiance to ISIS that they could be brought to justice. “Choudary is very clever and tried to live within the law”, he said. “We haven’t had evidence to present to a court before that was suitable for prosecution.
Choudary has links to recently convicted terrorists including Brustholm Ziamani and Junead Khan, both jailed for plotting Lee Rigby style executions on British soil.
But during his trial he tried to explain away his online posts and speeches as discussions of a theoretical Islamic state, rather than the actual terrorist organisation established in Iraq and Syria.
A jury deliberated for two-and-a-half days before returning guilty verdicts on both Choudary, of Hampton Road, Ilford, Essex and Rahman, of Newbold Cottages, Sidney Street, Whitechapel, east London, for inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation. The convictions, on July 28, could not be reported until now because five men from Luton with links to Choudary were on trial in the same building.
Choudary was convicted of organising a procession without giving prior notice to the police, while Rahman was jailed for six years for soliciting murder at the protest.