British Cleric Convicted for Supporting ISIS

Anjem Choudary, the most prominent radical cleric in Britain, whose followers have been accused of participating in numerous violent attacks worldwide, has been convicted of soliciting support for the group known as the 'Islamic State.' According to Reuters, the 49-year-old was found guilty in a London court for online speeches and messages encouraging his followers to support the illegal 'Islamic State' which has seized large areas in Iraq and Syria. Besides being notorious in Britain, where tabloids have dubbed him the 'preacher of violence,' he is also known in other countries, condemning Western foreign policy in multiple interviews after attacks by radical Islamist groups, attributing the situation to such policies. The commander of London's anti-terror unit stated, 'These individuals have operated on the edge of the law for years, but no one in the anti-terror unit doubted their influence in promoting violence and encouraging individuals to join terrorist groups.' The prosecution announced that Anjem Choudary and one of his main associates, 33-year-old Mizan Anwar Rahman, pledged allegiance to the self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in online posts, stating that all Muslims have a duty to obey and assist him. Both denied the terrorism charges, claiming the case has political motivations. Their sentence was issued last month but could not be published until Tuesday, August 16, for legal reasons. Their punishment is expected to be announced in September and they could face up to ten years in prison. Anjem Choudary, the former leader of the now-illegal group Al-Muhajiroun, gained notoriety for praising the perpetrators of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S. and for declaring his goal to turn Buckingham Palace into a mosque. Despite his controversial remarks and failure to condemn the 2005 London bombings, Choudary has always denied any involvement with radical groups and has never been convicted of supporting terrorism in the past. However, Mizan Anwar Rahman was sentenced to two years in prison for encouraging his followers to kill American and British forces stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan during a 2006 demonstration in London. The Al-Muhajiroun group, founded in the late 1990s by a Syrian cleric named Omar Bakri, who disappeared from Britain in 2005, has been regarded as a breeding ground for radical Islamists and was banned in 2010 under UK anti-terrorism laws. British police suspect this group was a primary supporter of the 2005 London bombings, and Michael Adebolajo, one of the two men who murdered a British soldier on the streets of London in 2013, had participated in demonstrations organized by Anjem Choudary. Last year, during the trial of a teenager who converted to Islam and planned to behead a British soldier, it was revealed that he was also influenced by Al-Muhajiroun. The group's influence is said to extend beyond Britain. Another individual associated with this group, Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical cleric, was sentenced to life in prison in the U.S. last year for terrorism-related offenses. The armed individual who killed a soldier in Canada’s capital in 2014 and then attacked Parliament was a follower of Anjem Choudary on Twitter, although Choudary claimed at the time to have no connection with him. Anjem Choudary and Mizan Anwar Rahman claim to abide by the 'Covenant of Security,' which prohibits Muslims from attacking non-Muslim lands where the lives and property of Muslims are secure. Choudary stated in 2014, 'We live in a global society, and there is no doubt that we may at some point contact Muslims from various parts of the world who see the situation in Iraq and Syria or want to know about Sharia. This does not mean we encourage individuals to engage in terrorist acts.'