Tags
Radical cleric Anjem Choudary, long a thorn in the side of British authorities, was jailed Tuesday for five-and-a-half years after being convicted of encouraging support for Islamic State (IS) jihadists.
Supporters of the 49-year-old and his co-defendant Mohammed Mizanur Rahman -- who received the same sentence -- shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) from the public gallery as the judge announced his decision, according to an AFP journalist.
Judge Timothy Holroyde said Choudary was "calculating and dangerous" and had shown no remorse in a ruling handed down at London's Old Bailey court.
Dressed in a white robe, Choudary showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.
"A significant proportion of those listening to your words would be impressionable persons looking to you for guidance on how to act," said the judge.
Sue Hemming from the Crown Prosecution Service said both men were "fully aware that Daesh (IS) is a proscribed terrorist group responsible for brutal activities and that what they themselves were doing was illegal."
A jury convicted both men in July.
Choudary is the former head in Britain of Islam4UK or al-Muhajiroun, a now banned group co-founded by Omar Bakri Muhammad that called for Islamic law in Britain.
For two decades, the former lawyer who is of Pakistani descent, managed to stay on the right side of the law, becoming Britain's most prominent radical preacher.
Among those radicalised by Muhajiroun were the suicide bombers who killed 52 people on London's public transport system in July 2005, and the men who murdered soldier Lee Rigby in the capital in 2013, police say.
Commander Dean Haydon, head of counter-terrorism at London's Metropolitan Police, earlier said: "There is no one within the counter-terrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organisations."
He said an oath of allegiance made in July 2014 was a "turning point", giving police the evidence they needed to prove that the men supported IS.
The father-of-five previously hit the headlines for organising a pro-Osama bin Laden event in London in 2011.
He also belonged to a group that burned poppies, the symbol of remembrance for deaths in war, during an Armistice Day protest in the British capital in 2010.
There are no comments.
Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when you are saying farewell to those that have left a positive impression. That was the case earlier this month when Canada hosted Mexico in a friendly at BC Place stadium in Vancouver.
Some 60mn primary-school-age children have no access to formal education
Lekhwiya’s El Arabi scores the equaliser after Tresor is sent off; Tabata, al-Harazi score for QSL champions
The Yemeni Minister of Tourism, Dr Mohamed Abdul Majid Qubati, yesterday expressed hope that the 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen declared by the Command of Coalition Forces on Saturday will be maintained in order to lift the siege imposed on Taz City and ease the entry of humanitarian aid to the besieged
Some 200 teachers from schools across the country attended Qatar Museum’s (QM) first ever Teachers Council at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) yesterday.
The Supreme Judiciary Council (SJC) of Qatar and the Indonesian Supreme Court (SCI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial co-operation, it was announced yesterday.
Sri Lanka is keen on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar as part of government policy to shift to clean energy, Minister of City Planning and Water Supply Rauff Hakeem has said.