A judge has jailed the Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary for life with a minimum term of 28 years for running a banned terrorist organisation, telling him: “I cannot foresee a time when you will cease to be dangerous.”
After a trial at Woolwich crown court in south London, Choudary was convicted last week of having a “caretaker role” in directing al-Muhajiroun (ALM) from 2014, after its founder, Omar Bakri Muhammad, was imprisoned in Lebanon.
Choudary, 57, of Ilford, in east London, also encouraged support for the group by addressing online meetings of the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS), which Mr Justice Wall said was “a veil behind which al-Muhajiroun operated”.
Sentencing Choudary on Tuesday, Wall said that the preacher had acted as the caretaker of ALM until about 2023, interrupted by his imprisonment in 2016 for his activities supporting Islamic State and when he was on licence, from 2018 to July 2021 on his release from jail.
Choudary’s 2016 conviction brought to an end his seeming impunity from legal punishment over two decades in which he became notorious for his media appearances and controversial actions such as protesting at UK soldiers’ funerals.
Wall told Choudary that he would spend more than 26 years behind bars in total taking into account time he has already spent in custody, meaning he will not be eligible for release before the age of 85. The judge said even then he could not envisage him being freed “without the most cogent evidence of a change of mindset”.
Describing Choudary’s views as “entrenched and abhorrent”, Wall said his actions “ran the risk of causing or contributing to the deaths of very many people”.
The judge added: “In addition, by running an organisation such as al-Muhajiroun, you contributed in a significant way to the fear of terrorist attack by radical Islamic organisations which then existed in this country and abroad.
“You also helped to undermine the attempts of many good people to foster bonds between Muslims and people of other faiths and none who then lived in the United Kingdom.”
Security experts have claimed Choudary influenced dozens of British jihadists.
The judge said “chilling” trial evidence about Choudary’s denial of the holocaust and jokes about the 9/11 terror attacks, demonstrating his extreme views, were an indication of the danger he posed in the future when coupled with his history of unlawful behaviour.
“I am sure that you will continue to preach your message of hate and division when or if you are given the opportunity to do so in the future,” said Wall. “You are not someone who can be diverted from that course by any form of intervention.
“You pose a significant risk of causing serious harm to members of the public into the future by committing further specified offences such as this.”
Choudary’s hosted his first online lecture for ITS in June 2022, about a year after his licence conditions expired and Wall said he went on to hold about 30 in total in which he encouraged “confrontational dawah [conveying the message of Islam to non-Muslims] and acts of violence”.
The 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 messaging platform. Choudary’s conviction came after investigations by the Metropolitan police, the New York police department (NYPD), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Khaled Hussein, 29, from Canada, who prosecutors said was a “follower and dedicated supporter” of Choudary, was jailed for five years with an extra year on licence, having been found guilty of membership of ALM.