British Pak radical preacher charged with terror offences in UK

London: A radical Islamist preacher with dual British and Pakistani nationality who had been freed from prison a few years ago appeared in a London court on Monday charged with three terrorism-related offences.

Anjem Choudary, 56, was charged by the Metropolitan Police on Sunday with membership of a proscribed (banned) organisation, addressing meetings to encourage support for a proscribed organisation, and directing a terrorist organisation under different sections of the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000.

A Canadian national, 28-year-old Khaled Hussein, was also arrested in a related counter-terrorism inquiry on charges of membership in a proscribed organisation.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring presided over the Westminster Magistrates’ Court hearing and remanded both men in custody to appear at the Old Bailey court in London on August 4.

“On Monday, 17 July, Met counter-terrorism detectives investigating alleged membership of a proscribed organisation arrested a 56-year-old man in east London and a 28-year-old Canadian national at Heathrow Airport, after he arrived on a flight,” the Met Police said in a statement earlier.

“They were held under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000 and detectives were granted warrants of further detention allowing them to detain the men until Monday, 24 July,” the statement added.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told the court on Monday that Choudary spoke online to weekly small groups from June 2022 until his arrest, giving lectures on the establishment of an Islamic State in Britain. Co-accused Hussein is said to have effectively worked for Choudary in Canada.

“The charges relate to the proscribed organisation Al Muhajiroun, also known as the Islamic Thinkers Society. Criminal proceedings against Mr Choudary and Mr Hussein are now active and they each have the right to a fair trial,” said Nick Price, from the CPS Counter Terrorism Division.

“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings. The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider,” he said.

UK-born Choudary has been associated with different radical outfits, including the now-banned Islamist group Al Muhajiroun. He was released from London’s high-security Belmarsh prison back in 2018 where he was held after being convicted by the Old Bailey court in London in September 2016 for radical preaching and calling on Muslims to support the terrorist group ISIS.