2 weeks Ago By The Telegraph
Islamist hate preacher has lodged an appeal against his life sentence. Choudary, 57, who police said had a “radicalising impact” on religious fundamentalists, was after being found guilty of running a terrorist organisation. He will spend more than 26 years in jail in total due to the time he has already spent in custody, meaning he will not be released before the age of 85.
However, the preacher is said to have appealed to the High Court to try to quash the sentence and conviction. Anthony Glees, a terrorism expert at the University of Buckingham, said the appeal was an “appalling waste of taxpayer cash”. He told The Mail on Sunday: “There is no doubt in anyone’s mind, be they a humble juror or a High Court judge, that Choudary is a highly dangerous fanatic and that this country should be protected from the venom he spews.
” Choudary was convicted for taking a “caretaker role” in directing (ALM) while its founder was in jail. He was also found guilty of encouraging support for the group through online lectures to the Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS), which prosecutors said was another name for ALM. It came after an investigation by the , the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
ITS was infiltrated by undercover law enforcement officers in the US, who were present at online lectures in 2022 and 2023, held over the Element messenger platform. ALM was proscribed as a terror organisation in the UK in 2010, though it was said in court the group has continued to exist under various names. At the time of his conviction, a senior security officer said Choudary’s detention was a “significant moment”, adding the evidence presented in court showed his “continued involvement in supporting terrorism and radicalising others”.
During a press conference, he added: “ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security.” Although the ground for his appeal is not clear, his former bodyguard Abu Izzadeen, who was jailed for four-and-a-half years for inciting terrorism in 2008, said Choudary believed his sentence “was astronomically high”. He added: “I know people in prison who have done double murder and got less than that – 28 years minimum for something that is not murder.
They sentenced him based on his persona in the media.” Prosecutor Tom Little KC, opening the trial at Woolwich Crown Court on June 13, said Choudary had a “warped and twisted mindset”. Omar Bakri Muhammad, who founded ALM, was in prison in Lebanon between 2014 and March 2023, and Choudary stepped in and “filled the void”, Mr Little said.
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