British Pakistani radical preacher faces life term for directing terrorism

Anjem Choudary now faces a life imprisonment term when he is sentenced on July 30 following the conviction, which was the result of investigations by the Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

London: Anjem Choudary, a radical Islamist preacher with dual British and Pakistani nationality, was on Tuesday found guilty of directing a banned terrorist organisation and faces life imprisonment in the UK following a joint international investigation.

Choudary, 57, was found to have taken on a "caretaker role" in the Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) and a trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London heard that he directed the terror group for a significant period after 2014 and encouraged support for it by addressing online meetings.

He now faces a life imprisonment term when he is sentenced on July 30 following the conviction, which was the result of investigations by the Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

"ALM's tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security," said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command.

ALM was first proscribed, or banned, by the UK in 2006 under the name Al Ghurabaa. In 2010, ALM was included in the ban as an alternate name. Choudary was one of the original three members of ALM, which was founded in 1996.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) 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.

Choudary was released early from a five-year sentence for inviting support for the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group in October 2018 but his licence conditions prevented him from using the internet until July 2021. But within days of the conditions expiring, he began issuing press releases on WhatsApp and Telegram from his home in Ilford, his trial heard.

One of his supporters, 29-year-old Khaled Hussein from Edmonton, Canada, was also found guilty of ALM membership. He was detained while arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport in July last year.

The CPS told the court that Choudary spoke online to small groups weekly from June 2022 until his arrest, giving lectures on the establishment of an Islamic State in Britain. Co-accused Hussein is said to have effectively worked for Choudary in Canada.

“The charges relate to the proscribed organisation Al Muhajiroun, also known as the Islamic Thinkers Society. Criminal proceedings against Mr Choudary and Mr Hussein are now active and they each have the right to a fair trial,” said Nick Price, from the CPS Counter Terrorism Division.

UK-born Choudary has been associated with different radical outfits, including the now-banned Islamist group Al Muhajiroun. He was released from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison back in 2018 where he was held after being convicted by the Old Bailey court in London in September 2016 for radical preaching and calling on Muslims to support the terrorist group ISIS.