British radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary sentenced to life on terrorism charges

A judge in the United Kingdom sentenced radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary for life after he was found guilty of directing and encouraging support for a banned "terrorist organisation" Al-Muhajiroun (ALM).

The ALMwas set up with an aim to establish an Islamic caliphate in Britain and was banned in 2010.

The 57-year-old preacher, who emerged as the defining face of Islamist radicalism in the post-Brexit UK, was convicted last week on terrorism charges.

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"Organisations such as yours normalise violence in support of an ideological cause," Judge Mark Wall told Choudary at London's Woolwich Crown Court while referring to theAl-Muhajiroun (ALM).

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"Their existence gives individuals who are members of them the courage to commit acts which otherwise they might not do. They drive wedges between people who otherwise could and would live together in peaceful coexistence."

Choudary has been sentenced to a minimum term of 28 years. He has already spent a little less than a year in prison, meaning until 2047, he won't be eligible for parole.

Who is Anjem Choudry?

Anjem Choudary was Britain's most high-profile Islamist preacher. He first took the spotlight in and beyond Britain for praising the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Choudary even said that hewanted to convert the Buckingham Palace into a mosque.

Choudary was previously imprisoned in Britain in 2016 for building support for Islamic State. He was released in 2018 after he served half of his five-and-a-half-year sentence.

Prosecutor Tom Little said on Tuesday (July 30) that Choudary became "the caretaker emir" of al-Muhajiroun after fellow Islamist preacher Omar Bakri Mohammed was jailed in Lebanon in 2014.

Choudary's lawyer argued that al-Muhajiroun was "little more than a husk of an organisation" and that almost all terrorist acts linked to the group had already taken place.

But Wall said al-Muhajiroun was "a radical organisation intent on spreading sharia law to as much of the world as possible, using violent means where necessary".

Choudary stood trial alongside Canadian citizen Khaled Hussein, 29, who was arrested on the same day as Choudary in 2023 when he arrived on a flight at Heathrow Airport.

Hussein was also found guilty of holding membership of a banned organisation and sentenced to five years in prison.

(With inputs from agencies)