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UK radical preacher Anjem Choudary jailed for aiding IS
Radical preacher Anjem Choudary and his aide Mohammed Mizanur Rehman were on Tuesday jailed for five-and-a-half years each for inviting support for the Islamic State terror group.
Radical preacher Anjem Choudary and his aide Mohammed Mizanur Rehman were on Tuesday jailed for five-and-a-half years each for inviting support for the Islamic State terror group.
Choudary, 49, was earlier convicted in the high court of backing the group in an oath of allegiance published online. The judge described Choudary as calculating and dangerous.
Choudary, of east London, and Rahman, 33, of north London, were convicted last month of inviting support for IS - an offence that violated section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 - between 29 June 2014 and 6 March 2015.
Security officials charged the preacher and the proscribed organisations which he helped to run, such as al-Muhajiroun, for radicalising young men and women, including the killers of British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013.
Passing sentence, Justice Holroyde said the pair “crossed the line between the legitimate expression of your own views and a criminal act. A significant proportion of those listening to your words would be impressionable persons looking to you for guidance on how to act.”
He told Choudary he had failed to condemn “any aspect” of what IS was doing, adding: “In that way you indirectly encouraged violent terrorist activity.”
