Choudary jailed for five years

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary has received a sentence of five and a half years in jail, for encouraging support for the so-called Islamic State group. The news comes after police found that Choudary’s followers had carried out attacks in the UK and abroad. In particular, counter-terror officials highlighted the preacher’s role in managing proscribed organisations such as al-Muhajiroun, which is linked to the radicalisation of Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale who murdered Fusilier Lee Rigby. The same sentence was also passed to Choudary’s confident Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, and includes a notification order lasting 15 years, which means both the criminals must keep the police aware of details such as changes in address. Sue Hemming, CPS head of counter terrorism, said: "Both men were fully aware that Daesh (ISIL) is a proscribed terrorist group responsible for brutal activities and that what they themselves were doing was illegal. "Those who invite others to support such organisations will be prosecuted and jailed for their crimes." Justice Holroyd, the judge who passed the sentence, said: “You are both mature men and intelligent men who knew throughout exactly what you were doing. You are both fluent and persuasive speakers. A significant proportion of those listening to your words would be impressionable persons looking to you for guidance on how to act. “In that way you indirectly encouraged violent terrorist activity. “You are both mature men and intelligent men who knew throughout exactly what you were doing. You are both fluent and persuasive speakers” Choudary’s sentencing signals the end of a long and arduous police pursuit. He will now serve time in the high security unit at HMP Belmarsh in south-east London.