A Canadian national was sentenced to five years in prison by a British court on Tuesday for participating in a terrorist organization that has been linked to deadly attacks in the U.K.
Khaled Hussein, a Canadian citizen and resident of Edmonton, was sentenced alongside Anjem Choudary, a British citizen, in London’s Woolwich Crown Court a week after they were convicted on multiple charges under Britain’s Terrorism Act.
Choudary was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 28 years, minus nearly a year already served, for serving as the leader of the group Al Muhajiroun since 2014. Hussein was a member of the group, also known as the Islamic Thinkers Society, beginning in 2020.
“I am sure that you were in awe of Anjem Choudary and became involved in this offence partly because of his influence over you,” Justice Mark Wall told Hussein in his sentencing remarks.
“However, I am equally sure that you knew full well what you were getting involved in and were anxious to become ever more deeply involved in it.”
The court found Hussein helped Choudary “in a number of ways” despite being limited in his involvement by living in Canada. That assistance included helping to set up websites and distribute magazines that allowed Choudary to “spread his message,” Wall said.
The London Metropolitan Police said Hussein “was effectively acting as a personal assistant to Choudary,” helped him host online lectures with other extremists and edited extremist online blogs and publications for the organization.
The RCMP identified Hussein as a person of interest during a counterterrorism investigation that began in 2019, with an undercover officer later determining the connection between Hussein and Choudary. Investigators then learned that Hussein planned to travel from Edmonton to London in June 2023, and was arrested upon landing in London a month later.
Wall said Hussein had travelled to London to meet Choudary.
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Hussein will serve a maximum of five in years in prison, followed by a sixth year on licence after release. The British Parole Board will determine whether to release Hussein on licence early after he serves a minimum of two-thirds of his five-year prison sentence. He will also be subject to notification requirements for 15 years following his release.
The investigation and resulting convictions are “a reminder that extremism can take hold anywhere and that we must all remain vigilant,” Assistant Commissioner Lisa Moreland, regional commander for the RCMP’s Northwest Region, said in a statement Tuesday.
Choudary — who was previously convicted of terrorism offences in 2016 and sentenced to over five years in prison — was a founding member of Al Muhajiroun, which is a listed terrorist organization in the U.K. He took over leadership of the group after its original leader, Omar Bakhri Mohammed, was imprisoned in Lebanon in 2014.
Individual members of Al Muhajiroun, which is aligned with the Islamic State, have been linked to fatal attacks on the London Bridge in 2017 and 2019. The RCMP said last week in announcing Hussein’s conviction that Al Muhajiroun members were also linked to the 2017 Westminster Bridge attack that killed five people, including a police officer.
Wall said Choudary’s actions while directing Al Muhajiroun ” ran the risk of causing or contributing to the deaths of very many people.”
“In addition, by running an organization such as Al Muhajiroun, you contributed in a significant way to the fear of terrorist attack by radical Islamic organizations which then existed in this country and abroad,” Wall said at the sentencing hearing.
Wall added that Choudary supported encouraged individual members to carry out violent acts with the knowledge it would be difficult for law enforcement to link their actions back to him.
The judge increased the minimum sentence for Choudary from 25 to 28 years due in part to his previous conviction and “that (he) sought to groom young people into (his) way of thinking and into joining the organization.” Wall noted he had “no doubt” Choudary is a dangerous offender due to his “entrenched” views, including denial of the Holocaust and apparent approval of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States.
“I do not sentence you for holding those views, but the fact that you genuinely hold such extreme views coupled with your history of unlawful behaviour is an indication of the danger you pose into the future,” Wall told Choudary.
“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.”
Evidence collected in Canada by the RCMP was presented in court during the trial of both men, which the agency and the London Metropolitan Police said was essential to securing the convictions.
“I have no doubt that these convictions and the resulting sentences have left communities here in London, and also right across the U.K. and beyond, much safer,” Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the London force’s Counter Terrorism Command, said in a statement.
—With files from Global’s Uday Rana
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