Anjem Choudary, a radical preacher and ISIS supporter, was sentenced to five and a half years in jail on Tuesday after a British court found him guilty of violating section 12 of the 2000 Terrorism Act.
Choudary, 49, is a noted radical Islamist and founder of the now-banned radical group Al-Muhajiroun.
Early Life
Choudary is the son of Pakistani immigrants and grew up in East London. His family wasn’t particularly religious and during university Choudary, called Andy by his friends at the time, developed a reputation for womanizing, cannabis-smoking, and excessive drinking. He failed his first year of medical studies and switched to law, where he eventually became the chairman of the Society of Muslim lawyers.
Choudary grew tired of the partying lifestyle as his twenties faded. He increasingly turned to religion and started attending mosque more regularly. Choudary’s extreme penchant for debauchery was replaced by an extreme interpretation of religion — as is the case with many ISIS sympathizers in Europe. He met Omar Bakri Mohammad at a mosque in Woolwich — where a follower would later decapitate a policeman — and formed Al-Muhajiroun.
Al-Muhajiroun
Bakri became Choudary’s mentor. Together, they formed Al-Muhajiroun “which campaigned to unite Muslims across the world and see the global imposition of Sharia Law,” the Telegraph reported.
The group attracted many followers from university campuses and a number of these followers went on to be radicalized. “[S]ome experts [claim] around half of all terror attacks carried out by Britons can be linked in some way to him [Choudary] or the Al-Muhajiroun organisation that he fronted,” the Telegraph reported.
Al-Muhajiroun was later banned under terror legislation and unsuccessfully tried to relaunch a couple of times under different names. In 2005, Bakri fled Britain shortly after the 7/7 bombings. He would later say the perpetrators of the attack were “in paradise.” He landed in Lebanon and settled in the northern city of Tripoli where he would stay until his arrest in 2014. He’s now in a Lebanese prison and facing a death sentence.
Meanwhile, Choudary stayed in Britain and continued to advocate for an Islamic caliphate. Choudary developed a reputation for being a charismatic speaker and was regularly interviewed by the media. His legal training helped him ensure that he stayed on the right side of the law and, while he certainly angered many influential lawmakers and public servants, didn’t do anything that could get him arrested or penalized.
One of his strategies, according to former followers of Choudary, was to speak in broader tones and quote theology without giving direct orders for violence.
“In private, when we were online, he was very similar to what you would hear in public,” Jesse Morton, a former member of Al-Muhajiroun’s American branch the Islamic Thinkers Society who had direct interaction with Choudary through the internet, told BBC Magazine. “But he would give a very detailed run down on the arguments, the ‘permissibility’ of violence from a theological perspective.”
“He would talk about how there were texts that would set out the obligation of Muslims to defend Muslim lands,” Morton said. “And they’d drop into your inbox.”
ThinkProgress reached out to Morton, who now researches extremism for George Washington University, for comment but was unable to reach him.
Choudary’s invitations for violence were subtle and unspoken and often left for his followers to interpret. Morton said during his radical days he gave an online talk demonizing London’s financial institutions that Choudary passed on to four of his disciples. Choudary’s followers later were arrested for a plan to bomb the London Stock Exchange.
Choudary’s Arrest And Sentencing
Choudary’s luck ran out after he posted a series of talks to YouTube last July where he encouraged his supporters to support ISIS. He was sentenced for five years and six months, leaving many law enforcement officers — angry about his connection to the murder of Lee Rigby — fuming that he will likely be released after only two years.
“I regard each of you as dangerous,” the sentencing judge, Justice Timothy Holroyde told Choudary and his accomplice, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 33, who was also sentenced to five and a half years. “You show no remorse at all for anything you have said or done and I have no doubt you will continue to communicate your message whenever you can.”
“The jury were sure that you knowingly crossed the line between the legitimate expression of your own views and the criminal act of inviting support for an organisation which was at the time engaged in appalling acts of terrorism,” Holroyde said.