Radical preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years after a UK court found him guilty of running a banned terrorist organisation.
Choudary, will serve more than 26 years in jail in total, after already having spent time in custody. The judge told the Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday that Choudary won’t be released before the age of 85.
Last week, Choudary was convicted of taking a “caretaker role” in directing terrorist organisation Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) since 2014, after its “spiritual leader” was jailed in Lebanon.
The counter-terror police said Choudary had a “radicalising impact” on terrorists.
The court also found Choudary guilty of encouraging support for ALM though online lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS), which according to prosecution was another name for ALM.
Judge Mark Wall said that Choudary was “front and centre in running a terrorist organisation” and “encouraged young men into radical activity.”
Choudary’s defence said that he was not “gathering the masses to join” and by the time he assumed the leadership of ALM, it was “little more than a husk of an organisation.”
The 57-year-old from Illford in east London has denied being a member of ALM and encouraging support for the group. He has also denied directing a terrorist organisation.
Khaled Hussein, Choudary’s co-defendant in the case, was arrested on the same day. The 28-year-old from Edmonton, Alberta was detained at Heathrow Airport after he had arrived in the UK.
International Effort
London’s Metropolitan Police has been working with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to detain Choudary.Undercover police in the United States infiltrated the Islamic Thinkers Society and were present at online lectures in 2022 and 2023.
Prosecution told the jury in June that undercover operatives recorded many of the classes and lectures they attended. These recordings were passed from U.S. law enforcement to counter-terrorism officers in the Metropolitan Police.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner has described Choudary as a “shameless, prolific radicaliser.”
According to Scotland Yard, Choudary had a radicalising impact on individuals, who as a result, have conducted terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes.
“ALM’s [Al-Muhajiroun’s] tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command.
‘Medallion’
Mr. Choudary was released from prison in relation to the ISIS offence on Oct. 19, 2018 and was on licence until July 18, 2021.Prosecution told the jury in June that the conviction made Choudary cautious in who he would speak to openly.
“However, his desire to further the aims of ALM caused even him sometimes to let down his guard,” said prosecutor Tom Little.
The court has also heard that during his online lectures, Choudary said that he viewed being called an extremist as a “medallion.”
The ALM was originally known al-Ghurabaa, or The Saved Sect, until it was proscribed by the then-Home Secretary John Reid in 2006.
The group’s name later changed to ALM and in January 2010 it was banned under that name too, and in 2011 it was also banned under the guise of Muslims Against Crusades.
