Anjem Choudary Guilty of Directing Terrorist Organisation

Anjem Choudary speaking to the media in Ilford, east London, on July 19, 2021. Dominic Lipinski/PA

Radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has been convicted of directing a terrorist organisation and encouraging support for the group through online meetings.

Choudary was found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday of having taken a “caretaker role” in directing Al-Muhajiroun since 2014. The organisation was proscribed in the UK in 2010, but prosecutors said it has continued to exist under other names.

The 57-year-old from Illford in east London had given online lectures at the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society—which prosecutors said was “the same” as Al-Muhajiroun—where he encouraged support for his organisation.

An international investigation involving the cooperation of London’s Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department (NYPD), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police resulted in the arrests of Choudary and a Canadian national last year.

The Met arrested Choudary at his home in east London on July 17, 2023, and charged him days later with terrorist offences. On the same day, police arrested Khaled Hussein, 28, from Edmonton, Alberta, and detained him at Heathrow Airport after he had arrived in the UK.

The same court found Hussein, who prosecutors said was a “follower and dedicated supporter” of Choudary, guilty of being a member of Al-Muhajiroun.

‘Shameless, Prolific Radicaliser’

Undercover police in the United States infiltrated the Islamic Thinkers Society and were present at online lectures in 2022 and 2023.

The 57-year-old denied in court that he had invited support for Al-Muhajiroun during the lectures because the organisation “didn’t exist.”

Choudary was convicted and jailed in 2016 for supporting the ISIS terrorist group and was released two years later. The court heard that during his online lectures, he had said he viewed being called an extremist as a “medallion.”

Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, said during a press conference, “There are individuals that have conducted terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary’s radicalising impact upon them.”

“ALM’s [Al-Muhajiroun’s] tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security,” Mr. Murphy added.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner said it was a “historic case” and described Choudary as a “shameless, prolific radicaliser.”

Ms. Weiner said that the Islamic Thinkers Society was Al-Muhajiroun’s “U.S. base branch,” adding that “names may have changed, years may have passed, but the threat really remained constant.”

Choudary and Hussein will be sentenced on July 30. Choudary faces life in prison for directing a terrorist organisation.

PA Media contributed to this report.