Anjem Choudary, one of the UK’s most notorious radical preachers, will be sentenced on Tuesday after being found guilty of directing a banned organization and encouraging support for it online.
The 57-year-old former lawyer, previously jailed for supporting ISIS, faces the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison following a joint investigation by the UK, the United States, and Canada.
A jury at Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London convicted Choudary last week of being the “caretaker” leader of Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), a group banned in the UK since 2010. Founded in 1996 by Syrian-born cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad, ALM aimed to establish an Islamic governate in the UK and has been linked to several attacks, including the 2013 murder of British soldier Lee Rigby and the 2017 and 2019 London Bridge attacks.
Prosecutors argued that despite claims of disbandment, ALM continues under different names, including the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society. US law enforcement infiltrated the group and attended online lectures hosted by Choudary in 2022 and 2023, prompting investigations in Britain and Canada.
Dominic Murphy of London’s Metropolitan Police stated that Choudary’s radical influence has led individuals to conduct terrorist attacks or travel for terrorist purposes. Rebecca Weiner, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department, described Choudary’s conviction as “historic,” noting his role as a “shameless, prolific radicalizer.”
Choudary gained media attention in the early 2000s through demonstrations in front of UK mosques, embassies, and police stations. He was jailed in 2016 for encouraging support for ISIS and released early in 2018. His co-defendant, Khaled Hussein, 29, from Edmonton, Canada, was also convicted of ALM membership and will be sentenced on Tuesday.
