High-profile UK radical faces jail for supporting Daesh

LONDON

Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary is facing a jail sentence after being found guilty of swearing an oath of allegiance to Daesh.

Choudary, 49, already notorious in the U.K. for being a leading member of the banned Al-Muhajiroun organization, was convicted of rallying support for Daesh between June 2014 and March 2015.

He was found guilty along with colleague Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 33, on July 28, but for legal reasons their convictions were only made public on Tuesday.

Choudary and Rahman, who will be sentenced next month, face up to 10 years in jail for inviting support for a proscribed terrorist group.

Prosecutors said the two were “acutely aware” that being overtly supportive of Daesh could have criminal implications under British law.

“The prosecution alleges that this led to great care in the way in which the defendants expressed themselves publicly, particularly after Isil [Daesh] was proscribed as a terrorist organization by the Home Secretary,” prosecutor Richard Whittam QC told the court, the U.K.’s Guardian newspaper reported.

“Terrorist organizations thrive and grow because people support them and that is what this case is about. Do not confuse that with the right of people to follow the religion of their choice or to proclaim support for a caliphate,” he added.