Taxpayer will foot bill if Choudary moved to safe house
ANJEM CHOUDARY, the notorious Islamist hate preacher, could be moved to a taxpayer-funded safe house within weeks of his release from prison, The Daily Telegraph understands.
Choudary will be taken by police escort tomorrow to a probation hostel in north London after serving half of a five-and-half year jail sentence for a terrorist offence.
However, sources have said that they expect him to be moved within weeks, possibly even within days, because of the difficulty in keeping his location secret.
It is understood that should Choudary’s safety be compromised – he is a known target of far-right activists – he will be moved to a safe house while still under assessment by the probation service and police. The cost of keeping him under surveillance is likely to exceed £2million a year.
A well-placed source said: “Choudary is a national hate figure and instantly recognisable. Anybody who sees him in the street armed just with a camera phone will post those photographs, and his safety will be immediately compromised.”
Officials would then transfer Choudary to another probation hostel, but again it is likely he would be recognised. The option after that, according to sources, is to move him to a safe house with 24-hour police protection, which is also necessary to make sure he is obeying the terms of his release.
“If he is deemed at risk, he will have to be moved to a safe house,” said the source. “That has been part of the discussion on how to manage Choudary.”
Choudary, 51, will be subjected to 25 conditions on his release that include not talking to children, and being banned from the internet.
Authorities are deeply concerned that Choudary, the leader of the banned terrorist organisation al-muhajiroun, will re-exert influence on hundreds of followers upon release. His disciples include Khuram Butt, part of the London Bridge terror cell who murdered eight people in June last year.
Choudary was sent to prison in 2016 after being caught swearing an oath of allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. He is expected to remain under the supervision of probation service for about six months before being allowed to move back into the family home. The location of his wife and five children is a tightly guarded secret – also for fear of reprisal.