Hate preacher ‘will be more dangerous than ever’ when he is freed
... as t axpayers face six-f igure bill to keep HIM safe
A NOTORIOUS hate preacher due to be released from jail within days is ‘more dangerous than ever’ and will ‘poison the minds’ of a new generation, it was claimed last night.
Anjem Choudary could be released as early as this week from the maximum- security Frankland Prison i n County Durham a f t e r s e r vi ng less than half of his five-and-a-halfyear sentence.
He was jailed in 2016 for publicly supporting the Islamic State terror group.
But last night a source said: ‘He is still a dangerous individual. He has become more aggressive in his views.’
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that keeping Choudary in a safe house after his release will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Choudary is accused of radicalising Khuram Butt, 28, ringleader of the 2017 London Bridge attacks, and Michael Adebolajo, 33, who murdered soldier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in May 2013.
Choudary is being released even though internal monitoring by the Ministry of Justice has deemed that he has not changed his views, and will portray himself as a ‘martyr’ when he comes out of jail.
He will be provided with a safe house in a well-to-do suburb of North London, where renting a modest two- bedroom flat can cost £1,300 a month.
Round-the-clock monitoring to ensure that Choudary adheres to bail conditions will add to the expense facing taxpayers.
The total bill is expected to exceed £100,000 a year.
The Mail on Sunday has also learned that the preacher has written a book inside prison, recording his experience within an isolation unit and presenting it as an example of how the state oppresses Muslims.
Prison staff fear he will now disseminate the book to foment his ‘victimhood narrative’.
A source said: ‘He is writing that he is being oppressed. He believes his human rights are being violated.’ Fiyaz Mughal, founder and director of interfaith anti-extremism group Faith Matters, said: ‘The victimhood narrative is utterly toxic. I would have liked to see Choudary serve out his whole sentence and I hope that the conditions placed on him when released are restrictive enough within the law, to ultimately save other young lives from his poison.’
Choudary, leader of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), is a trained lawyer but has shamelessly claimed state benefits all of his working life, and even nicknamed Jobseeker’s Allowance ‘Jihad Seeker’s Allowance’.
When released, he will be free to travel to his family home in Ilford, East London, to see his wife and three children, but will have to observe a nighttime curfew and sleep at his safe house.
He will be banned from visiting certain mosques, including the London Central Mosque near Regent’s Park.
He i s also prevented from using the internet, will be allowed to use only one mobile phone, which will be monitored by the police, and must wear a GPS tag that will track his movements at all times.
Fellow ALM leader Mizanur Rahman, 35, who was jailed for five years in 2016, will also be released in the coming weeks.
Sources have said that Choudary will be banned from contacting a number of leading figures within the ALM network, including Rahman.