Muslim priest gets 5.5 years in jail for supporting ISIS
What's the story
Muslim radical preacher Anjem Choudary and another of his backers, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman were both found guilty of supporting the terror organisation ISIS by a London court. The two who faced a maximum term of ten years in jails were given a five-year and six-month sentence. Choudhary has been a popular face known for his pro-sharia law demonstrations and extremist rhetoric.
Personal
A medicine student turned lawyer
Anjem Chaudhary was a student of medicine and later switched to law instead, qualifying as a solicitor. Before he began his radical speeches he had advocated on civil and human rights issues, such as race discrimination.
Introduction
Chaudhary: Spokesperson for the extremists
Anjem Chaudhary, a radical Muslim priest was seen by the British law enforcements as " the spokesman for the extremists, saying the most distasteful of comments". He spread hate through his speeches, he justified "committing acts of violence in the name of terror" to young Muslim men. However, Chaudhary couldn't be arrested as he gave the hate speeches but "without crossing the criminal threshold".
Quote
Chaudhary and his radical proclamations
Anjem Chaudhary had gone as far as to claim that: "The flag of Islam will fly over Downing Street" and that the "Muslims are rising to establish the Sharia... Pakistan, Afghanistan and perhaps, my dear Muslims, Londonistan."
2014
Cleric influenced people to become ISIS sympathizers
The cleric had in 2014 spoken to the law enforcement and said that he was believed to have inspired "500 people, in fact, to carry out operations here and abroad." It was later found out that a Londoner who had been interviewed with him had gone to Syria for fighting for the ISIS. The young man's case had alarmed and shocked British authorities further.
Section 12, Terrorism Act 2000
How Chaudhary was finally nabbed?
Chaudhary had avoided jail by not breaking the law because "he was supporting a political concept - not the proscribed terrorist group behind it." However, the Crown Prosecution Service found the key in Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to jail him. He was jailed not for believing in ISIS but because he had beckoned others to back the Islamic State group.