UK Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary handed life sentence

A British court sentenced radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary to life in prison on Tuesday for directing a terrorist organization.

It comes after Choudary was found guilty of being the "caretaker" leader of "al-Muhajiroun," a group that aims to establish an Islamic caliphate in the UK. The British government proscribed the group as a terrorist organization in 2010.

Some of the group's members have been implicated in the 2013 murder of British soldier Lee Rigby and attacks on the London Bridge in 2017 and 2019.     

"Organizations such as yours normalize violence in support of an ideological cause," Judge Mark Wall told Choudary at London's Woolwich Crown Court.

"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."

A 'shameless, prolific radicalizer'

Choudary's life sentence carries a minimum term of 28 years. He will not be released before the age of 85.

The judge said he ordered such a length term because the preacher "encouraged young men into radical activity."

Choudary had previously been sentenced to five and a half years in prison in 2016 for encouraging support for the so-called "Islamic State" group. He was released early in 2018.

Choudary's arrest for his role in al-Muhajiroun came after an American undercover operation found that the group — which had officially disbanded — was still active under a number of different names, including the New York-based "Islamic Thinkers Society." These findings sparked police probes in Britain and Canada.

New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner said Choudary's conviction was "historic" because of his senior position, describing him as a "shameless, prolific radicalizer.'

"It is usually the foot soldiers, the individuals who are brought into the network who go on to commit the attacks who are brought to justice," she told reporters.

zc/wmr (Reuters, AFP, AP)