A radical preacher was found guilty in a UK court on Tuesday of running a banned terrorist organisation and encouraging support for it on the internet.
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in south-east London convicted Anjem Choudary of being the “interim” leader of Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), which was banned in the UK in 2010.
The group was founded in 1996 by Syrian-born, north London-based cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad with the aim of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the UK.
Its members have been implicated in several extremist attacks, including the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013 and the London Bridge attacks in 2017 and 2019.
Despite claims that it had been disbanded, prosecutors said Al-Muhajiroun continues to exist under different names, including the New York-based Society of Islamic Thinkers.
US law enforcement officials infiltrated the group and attended online conferences it hosted with Choudary in 2022 and 2023, triggering police investigations in Britain and also in Canada.
“There are people who have carried out terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary's radicalising impact on them,” Dominic Murphy of the Metropolitan Police said after his sentencing.
“ALM's tentacles have spread across the globe and have had a massive impact on public safety,” added Murphy, who heads the force's counterterrorism command.
Rebecca Weiner, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department, told reporters that Choudary's conviction was “historic” and described him as a “shameless and prolific radicalizer.”
“It's usually the rank and file, the individuals who join the network and then carry out the attacks, who are brought to justice,” he said.
“He is rarely the leader, and that is why this is a particularly important moment.”
The prosecution told the court that Choudary, 57, from Ilford, east London, took over the management of Al-Muhajiroun while Muhammad was in prison in Lebanon from 2014 to 2023.
Choudary, a former lawyer, was jailed for five and a half years in 2016 for encouraging support for the Daesh terrorist group, and was released early from prison in 2018.
In his trial, he denied having invited people to support ALM during the online conferences and claimed that the group had disbanded.
But prosecutors said police investigations showed ITS was “one and the same” as ALM, while Murphy said it was “clear” Choudary had influence online.
Choudary's co-defendant, Khaled Hussein, 29, of Edmonton, Canada, was also convicted of ALM membership.
Hussein, who was said to be “a follower and loyal supporter” of Choudary, was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport after arriving on a flight on July 17.
Both men will be sentenced on July 30.
