Hate preacher Anjem Choudary jailed for life for directing terror group

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Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for life for directing the terrorist organisation al-Muhajiroun.

Choudary, who counterterror police say has had a “radicalising impact” on terrorists, was convicted last week of taking a “caretaker role” in directing al-Muhajiroun (ALM) while its founder was in jail.

He was also found guilty of encouraging support for it through online lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS), which prosecutors said was another name for ALM.

It came after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Choudary, who was sentenced to a minimum term of 28 years, will spend more than 26 years in jail in total due to the time he has already spent in custody, meaning he will not be released before the age of 85, the judge said.

Sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday, Mr Justice Mark Wall told Choudary he was “front and centre in running a terrorist organisation”.

The judge also said that he “encouraged young men into radical activity” and his offences “cause the risk of significant loss of life”.

He went on: “Organisations such as yours normalise violence in the pursuit of an ideological cause. Their existence gives individuals who are members of them the courage to commit acts that otherwise they might not do.

“They drive a wedge between people who would and could live together in peaceful coexistence.”

The judge labelled Choudary’s views “entrenched and abhorrent to many right-thinking people”.

During the hearing, defence barrister Paul Hynes KC said that by the time Choudary had started directing ALM, it was “little more than a husk of an organisation” and he was not “gathering the masses to join”.

ITS was infiltrated by undercover law enforcement officers in the US, who were present at online lectures in 2022 and 2023, held over the Element messenger platform.

ALM was proscribed as a terror organisation in the UK in 2010, though it was said in court the group has continued to exist under various names.

A senior security official said last week’s conviction was a “significant moment”, adding the evidence presented in court showed “Choudary’s continued involvement in supporting terrorism and radicalising others”.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “There are individuals that have conducted terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary’s radicalising impact upon them.”

During a press conference, he added: “ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security.”

NYPD deputy commissioner Rebecca Weiner said it was a “historic case”, describing Choudary as a “shameless, prolific radicaliser”.

Ms Weiner said: “It is usually the foot soldiers, the individuals, who are brought into the network who go on to commit the attacks who are brought to justice.

“And it’s rarely the leader, which is what makes this a particularly important moment.”