Radical Muslim Cleric Found Guilty of Supporting ISIS
For over two decades, the radical Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary has been preaching hate to British Muslims and encouraging acts of extremism. He also was made several contentious appearances on Fox News’ Hannity program.
Now a London jury has found Choudary guilty of supporting the terrorist group ISIS.
The maximum prison term he faces under the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act is 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 6.
The 49-year-old Choudary had made a series of YouTube videos in which he actively promoted ISIS and encouraged Muslims to join the cause.
In 2014, he pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Choudary and his associate, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, were found guilty of motivating others to support the terrorist group between June 29, 2014, and March 6, 2015, in violation of Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Many people connected to Choudary were later convicted of terror offenses, including Michael Adebowale, who killed British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013.
Dean Haydon, who heads the London Metropolitan Police Service’s counterterrorism unit, considers the conviction a significant victory.
“These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no one within the counterterrorism 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 organizations,” Haydon said.
“Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offenses who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men,” he continued. “The oath of allegiance was a turning point for the police — at last we had the evidence that they had stepped over the line and we could prove they supported ISIS.”
The radical cleric has been on record saying: ‘We initiate the jihad against the kuffar [disbelievers] to make the name of Allah in the highest. He never considered defending yourself part of jihad. He said you need to send in the army. … It is about time we resumed conquering for the sake of Allah.”
Choudary also encouraged his followers to tell their children that Islam would eventually conquer the world.
“Next time when your child is at school and the teacher asks, ‘What is your ambition?’ they should say, ‘To dominate the whole world by Islam, including Britain, that is my ambition,’” he said. (For more from the author of “Radical Muslim Cleric Found Guilty of Supporting ISIS” please click HERE)
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