Anjem Choudary guilty of directing banned terror group

Anjem Choudary guilty of directing banned terror group
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx72w0l9vjdo.amp
23 July 2024, 12:15 BST
Updated 2 hours ago
Radical preacher Anjem Choudary has been found guilty of directing a group banned under UK terror laws and encouraging support for it online.

Choudary was convicted on Tuesday of taking a "caretaker role" in Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court.

ALM was first banned - or proscribed - by the home secretary in 2006 under the name Al Ghurabaa. In 2010, ALM was included in the ban as an alternate name.

Prosecutors said Choudary directed it for a significant period of time after 2014 and encouraged support for it by addressing online meetings.

Choudary told his trial that he was one of the original three members of ALM, which was founded in 1996.

The prosecution said he was still acting as its leader as late as July 2023, making online speeches to a US-based offshoot called Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS).

That group was infiltrated by undercover law enforcement officers in the US, who were present at online lectures in 2022 and 2023.
The court heard that Choudary said he viewed being called an extremist as a "medallion" during lectures
The conviction followed investigations by the Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's counter-terrorism command, said: "ALM's tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security."
Choudary told his trial that he was one of the original three members of ALM
People with links to ALM have been connected to attacks that police said were terror-related.

The three attackers that killed eight people at London Bridge in 2017 were led by a former ALM member, and the murder of five people at Westminster Bridge earlier that year was by a man who had spent years associating with the group. A member also killed two people at Fishmongers Hall in 2019.
After being banned in 2010, ALM regularly changed its name. The group operated under more than 50 aliases during its existence, according to Choudary in a covert audio recording heard during his trial.
Choudary, 57, from Ilford, east London, was arrested on 17 July 2023.

He was previously jailed in 2016 for encouraging support for the Islamic State group and released in 2018. He told the jury during his trial that after his release he had continued to do his best to propagate Islam.
One of his supporters, Khaled Hussein, 29, from Edmonton, Canada, was also found guilty of ALM membership. He was detained while arriving at Heathrow Airport - also on 17 July last year.
Both men will be sentenced on 30 July.
Commander Murphy said the charge used to prosecute Choudary was "very rare" in the UK and a "significant milestone".
He added that the Met Police's counter-terrorism command was "seeing an increasingly larger number of young people in our case files".
Choudary was convicted on Tuesday of taking a "caretaker role" in ALM after a trial at Woolwich Crown Court.