A British court on Tuesday sentenced Anjum Chaudhry, one of Britain’s most prominent Islamic preachers, to life in prison for leading a banned organization.
Jailing him for a minimum of 28 years in London, Woolwich Crown Court judge Mark Wall told former lawyer Anjum Chaudhry, 57, that he had ‘played a leading role in running a terrorist organisation’.
Anjum Chaudhry was convicted following a joint investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Judge Mark Wall said Anjum Chaudhry would spend a total of more than 26 years behind bars because of the time he had already spent in custody. The sentence means that they will not be released before the age of 85.
Explaining the long sentence, the judge added that Anjum Chaudhary had incited ‘young people to radical activities’.
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London last week found him to be the ‘vigilant’ leader of Al-Mahajroon (ALM), which was outlawed in Britain in 2010.
The group was founded in 1996 by North London-based Syrian religious leader Omar Bakri Mohammed with the aim of establishing an Islamic caliphate in Britain.
Members of the group have been involved in several attacks, including the killing of British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013 and the London Bridge attacks in 2017 and 2019.
Prosecutors say al-Mahajroon still exists under various names, including the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society.
US law enforcement officers joined the group and attended online lectures with Anjum Chaudhry in 2022 and 2023, prompting police investigations in the UK and Canada.
Dominic Murphy, of London’s Metropolitan Police, said after the sentencing: ‘There are individuals who have carried out terrorist attacks or traveled for terrorist purposes.’
New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner told reporters that Anjum Chaudhry’s sentence was “historic.” At the same time, he called them ‘shameless and extremist’.
He said: ‘Usually the soldiers, the people who are brought into the network and who carry out the attacks, are brought to justice. It’s rare that this happens to a leader, which is why this is a particularly important moment.’
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Son of a businessman, Anjum Chowdhury became a household name in the media in the early 2000s after protesting outside UK mosques, embassies and police stations.
He said that his aim was to hoist the flag of Islam at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence.
He was sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2016 for encouraging support for ISIS and was released early in 2018.
Khalid Hussain, 29, an associate of Anjum Chaudhry from Edmonton, Canada, has also been convicted of ALM membership and will be sentenced on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police and Britain’s spy agency MI5, assisted by the New York Police Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, gathered evidence that Anjum Chaudhry had been conducting online lectures with New York-based followers. He was driving and giving instructions to Al-Muhajiroon.
Police said Khalid Hussain helped him host lectures with other extremists and edited extremist online blogs and publications for Anjum Chaudhry.
Anjum Chaudhry gained media attention by praising those responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States and expressing his desire to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque.
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2024-07-30 23:57:07
