Anjem Choudary supports ISIS he needs shooting for treason

[Anthea]

Anjem Choudary's assets frozen days before prison release for supporting ISIS

Anjem Choudary has had his assets frozen as part of UN sanctions days before he is expected to be released from prison.

Officials told The Independent that the Islamist leader, who was jailed for inviting support for ISIS in 2016, will have to apply for permission even to pay his rent under the tight controls.

“Every single economic resource that he owns has been frozen,” a government source said. “He can’t use money basically.”

Choudary will have to apply for exemptions to the asset freeze for living expenses, and will be required to give details on the purpose of payments and recipients.

His entry on to a UN list of sanctioned Isis and al-Qaeda terrorists was officially adopted by the Treasury on Tuesday.

Giving the 51-year-old’s current address as HMP Frankland, where he has been held in a separation unit for extremists, the document notes his “tentative release” this month.

It says Choudary is being targeted because of activity “recruiting for and otherwise supporting acts or activities of” ISIS.

“In July 2014, Anjem Choudary pledged an oath of allegiance to ISIS,” the UN said.

Anjem Choudary: Radical preacher found guilty of inviting support for ISIS

“This pledge, which was published on the internet, also recruited followers for ISIS … prior to his conviction, Choudary stated that, if imprisoned, he would continue his activities from prison.

“Since his conviction and imprisonment, he has not made any statements denouncing his allegiance to and support for Isis.”

The UN says the measures, used for terrorists around the world, target “financial transactions involving any funds, economic resources or income-generating activities that benefit individuals, groups, undertakings and entities” on the Isis sanctions list.

Choudary was added at the request of the British government.

“The foreign secretary pushed for Choudary’s designation under the UN sanctions regime because its asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo have global reach,” a spokesperson for the Foreign Office said.

“The designation means that all UN member states are required to freeze without delay Choudary’s financial assets and economic resources, prevent the supply of weapons to him and prevent him entering or transiting their territory.

“Britain is determined to use the full range of legal measures to destroy and diminish the threat from Isis, including taking action against UK nationals and residents where necessary.”

Choudary is due for automatic release after reaching the halfway point of a five-and-a-half-year sentence, when time spent on remand is taken into account.

A former acolyte told The Independent that the former solicitor would not “stay quiet” following his release and that his banned al-Muhajiroun extremist network could be reinvigorated.

Security services have been seeking to avoid that possibility by planning tight restrictions on his activity and associations.

The Independent understands that Choudary will be taken directly from prison to a probation hostel, where he will be intensively monitored.

After being released into the community he will be watched by agencies including MI5 and the police under a system known as multi-agency public protection arrangements.

Choudary will be sent back to prison if he breaks a host of strict licence conditions, which are expected to include electronic monitoring, heavily restricted internet access or communications, and bans on associating with fellow extremists, speaking publicly, holding meetings or entering exclusion zones.

He will only be able to attend pre-agreed mosques and live at an agreed address.

Choudary has also been made subject to an international travel ban meaning he cannot leave the UK, or enter any UN member states, and is on a Border Force watch index.

He was previously made a “specially designated global terrorist” by the US last year because of his leadership of al-Muhajiroun, links to terrorist networks and pledge of allegiance to Isis.

The oath of allegiance, made in an east London curry house in 2014, provided police with the evidence they needed to swoop after years of frustrated attempts to stop Choudary’s radicalisation, street preaching and incendiary protests.

His followers have included numerous men who went to fight for Isis, including executioner Siddhartha Dhar, Lee Rigby’s murderers and the London Bridge attack ringleader Khuram Butt.

Siddhartha Dhar, an Isis fighter who became the ‘new Jihadi John’, was a prominent member of al-Muhajiroun

Other terrorists linked to al-Muhajiroun include 7/7 bomber Mohammad Sidique Khan, Mike’s Place attacker Omar Khan Sharif, Kashmir suicide bomber Bilal Mohammed and the men behind plots including the planned Ministry of Sound bombing, truck attack in Oxford Street and London Stock Exchange mail bombings.

The Faith Matters group raised fears that the release of Choudary and his co-defendant Mizanur Rahman, who was also a prominent member of al-Muhajiroun, would embolden both Islamists and far-right extremists.

Adam Deen, a former member of al-Muhajiroun who is now the executive director of the Quilliam counter-extremism thinktank, predicted “a rebirth of al-Muhajiroun, probably smarter and more cautious of the law”.

“I’m not too sure how much support Anjem is going to have when he comes out but most definitely he’s not going to stay quiet,” he added, saying Choudary could emerge from prison “more fervent” in his beliefs.

While al-Muhajiroun’s ranks have been severely diminished by security crackdowns and the deaths of members who went to fight for Isis, several of Choudary’s former associates have been spotted preaching their creed at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park and at “dawah” stalls giving out copies of the Quran.

Dr Michael Kenney, a University of Pittsburgh professor and author of The Islamic State in Britain, said the network has been left “very weak” by global outcry against Isis and a crackdown by security services.

He added: “The recruiting environment is very bad for them right now, particularly after Isis’s atrocities and the attacks in Britain. People don’t want to hear what they are preaching anymore.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/c ... 87311.html

[Anthea]

Who is Anjem Choudary and why was he in prison?

The radical preacher Anjem Choudary has been released from jail. He's considered one of the most influential and dangerous radicalisers in the UK because of his connection to a long line of terrorism suspects.

His release comes less than halfway through a five-and-a-half-year sentence after being convicted of inviting support for Islamic State. His departure from prison comes approximately four months earlier than it would have otherwise occurred because of the time he spent bailed on an electronic tag before his conviction. But it does not mean he is free to do as he pleases. So how dangerous is he - and what is being done to manage the threat security chiefs believe he poses?

Who is Anjem Choudary - and what did he do?

Choudary headed the Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) network. This was the leading group in the UK that supported an extreme interpretation of Islam that advocated Sharia law for Muslim lands and, ultimately, an inevitable conflict with Western liberal democracy.

The network, which had various guises, franchises and what amounted to brand names, was progressively banned under terrorism legislation in the wake of the 2005 London attacks.

When its founder, a Syrian Islamist cleric called Omar Bakri Mohammed, fled the UK following those attacks, Choudary, as his key disciple, took the helm.

British-born Choudary is charismatic and media-savvy and, in his drive for members, he would regularly make headlines with events such as high-profile demonstrations.

These would regularly involve denouncing the West and Middle Eastern regimes, the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else where he could claim that Muslims were victims.

Did Anjem Choudary organise terrorism attacks?

No. His danger came from the role he played in radicalising others. Once his followers bought into the idea that the West was victimising Muslims, that opened the way to them choosing violence themselves.

In many ways he was no different to many violent revolutionary ideologues through history: creating the conditions of hostility, without ever picking up a weapon himself.

Terrorism researcher Hannah Stuart, who has studied British jihadists since 1999, discovered that ALM was a factor in the lives of at least a quarter of those who have carried out attacks, gone to fight overseas or ended up in jail.

These included:

Omar Sharif - a British suicide bomber who attacked Tel Aviv in 2003. He was a follower of the ALM network.

Ten years later Michael Adebolajo murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby in London. Choudary confirmed the killer had been a follower - but said he had left the group.

"Boy S" from Blackburn was the youngest ever teenager to be convicted of a terrorism offence in the UK after he tried to organise an attack via his smartphone in his bedroom. He was under the spell of one of Choudary's circle - and met the leader himself before developing his plans.

Siddartha Dhar - one of Choudary's closest lieutenants in London - skipped police bail while under investigation and turned up in Syria fighting for the Islamic State group.

How big was the network?

It's very difficult to measure - and if MI5 ever worked it out, they're unlikely to put the figure in the public domain because it would give away exactly what they knew. But al-Muhajiroun and Anjem Choudary were influential in two ways.

First, there was personal contact. The core of the ALM network was quite tight and focused on a few centres of organisation, including London's East End and Luton. Sometimes he could attract more than 100 supporters to a demonstration - other times half a dozen to man a prayer stall in a town centre.

But he also had supporters online. Choudary and his core preachers were prolific on YouTube. They hosted video conferences on private platforms and spread messages far and wide via social media messaging services.

Some extremists were part of the network but not necessarily part of the inner circle, such as Khurram Butt, one of the three men who carried out the London Bridge/Borough Market attack in 2017.

Why is Anjem Choudary being released now?

He has reached the halfway point of his five-and-a-half-year sentence.

He spent some of this sentence in a special "separation unit" for dangerous extremists inside Frankland Prison in County Durham, to limit his possible influence over other inmates.

Now he is leaving jail, he is not going to be free. When an offender is released at the midway point of their sentence, the remainder is spent on "licence" in the community, as part of attempts to reintegrate them and reduce the risk of reoffending.

He must comply with 25 conditions that his release team, made up of probation and police officers, believe are necessary and proportionate to manage the risk he may still pose.

If he breaches them, he risks being recalled to prison.

These conditions have been headlined as being among the strictest ever - but the truth is a little more prosaic. They're taken from a wide menu of options that are used to manage the risk of people convicted of a terrorism offence.

In Choudary's case, the risk is that he will not have changed and could radicalise others once more.

While in prison he refused to take part in deradicalisation courses or exercises, the BBC has learned from counter-extremism sources.

On a number of occasions, Choudary was offered opportunities to speak to mainstream religious leaders and other experts who have successfully turned around the mindset of other extremists. On each of those occasions, Choudary refused to get involved.

While the preacher reportedly refused to address his mindset, prison authorities could not hold up his release.

The restrictions he will face for the next two-and-a-half years therefore include a ban on preaching, organising meetings, associating with members of the ALM network, using the internet without permission or giving media interviews to spread his message.

He's also under a UK travel ban - restricted to within Greater London's M25 - as well as barred from foreign travel without permission. In other words, he will be carefully monitored.

What about his associates?

When Anjem Choudary was charged in 2015 with inviting support for IS, it was a moment of great success for counter-terrorism chiefs - and they were already trying to build cases against other associates.

Some, including close confidantes, were jailed. At least four others, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were subject to a Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measure (TPim), a form of control that places two years of restrictions on the movements and activities of terrorism suspects who have not been charged with a crime.

Others were investigated by social services as to whether they posed a risk to their own children or others. There was also an attempt to use Anti-Social Behaviour Orders against targets from Luton.

Detectives also looked for evidence of standard crimes - such as fraud - as a means to further "disrupt" the network. At least one member of the wider ALM family was jailed for fraud.

The insider view is that this work has been generally successful because it made the targets aware they could no longer act with impunity.

In theory, it created space for the security service MI5 and their police detective colleagues to focus on more urgent threats.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45903314